Cricket behind times on coaches’ on-field influence – Buttler

Cricket may be behind the times with innovation and how involved coaches are with on-field decisions, says England wicketkeeper Jos Buttler.

During England’s victory over Nepal on Sunday, coach Brendon McCullum was seen relaying messages from the dressing room via a walkie talkie.

Those messages were passed from the dugout by the boundary edge to England captain Harry Brook on the field.

“I’ve played in the IPL [Indian Premier League] with Gujarat where [coach] Ashish Nehra was very active on the boundary rope,” said Buttler, who was England’s white-ball captain until last year.

“It seems like cricket is the sport where we’re still a bit behind in that area.

“You look at other sports, like rugby where they run messages on. Maybe that will come more and more into cricket.”

McCullum, whose side play West Indies in their second match at the T20 World Cup on Wednesday, has been using the walkie talkies throughout recent weeks, including in England’s successful white-ball tour to Sri Lanka.

Under World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan, England trialled using cards with numbers and letters to send coded messages from the team analyst.

“It’s been there so he [McCullum] can just send a few messages down to the guys on the bench and if there’s anything he’s seeing from up the top to relay on to the pitch for Harry and the bowlers,” said Buttler.

Cricket is almost unique in sport given the captain remains the key decision-maker in the middle. A coach also has to contend with the large distances from the dressing room.

Long before England’s coded messages, South Africa coach Bob Woolmer and captain Hansie Cronje wore earpieces to communicate during a match against India at the 1999 World Cup.

That tactic was quickly banned by organisers.

The England camp is playing down the significance of the latest methods but it appears a more hands-on approach from the typically relaxed McCullum.

McCullum, who oversaw England’s Ashes defeat this winter, has presented a similar laid-back look on the sidelines regardless of the match situation throughout his time with England. He has spoken of wanting players to use their instinct on the field.

“That’s obviously the energy he wants to have to allow guys to feel less pressure in a game that has a lot of pressure,” Buttler said.

“That image is important to him, but don’t mistake that for someone whose mind is relaxed and whose not got his finger on the pulse.

England have made one change for the match against West Indies with all-rounder Jamie Overton replacing left-arm quick Luke Wood.

The Windies, who beat Scotland in their opening match, are expected to provide England a different challenge compared to Nepal with their trademark six-hitting.

Sunday’s match was England’s first meeting with Nepal in any format. In contrast, England have played four T20 series against West Indies since the start of 2022.

They were comfortable winners of the past two – a 3-0 victory at home last year and a 3-1 win in the Caribbean the previous winter.

Wednesday’s match will also be played on a fresh pitch and, crucially, later in the evening.

That should help run-scoring and dew could have a significant impact, giving an advantage to the chasing side.