Eoin Morgan makes big claim about ‘one of the best’ as Jos Buttler’s class helps England beat Australia

Getty Images
Will Mapcherson30 October 2021

Eoin Morgan believes Jos Buttler’s batting is so imperious that it is “changing the game” of T20 cricket, after the England opener nailed 71 from 32 balls as England brushed past Australia at the T20 World Cup.

Buttler helped England chase just 126 with eight wickets and 50 balls to spare in Dubai, leaving them within touching distance of the semi-finals following similarly emphatic victories over West Indies and Bangladesh.

Morgan thoroughly enjoyed watching Buttler “going bananas”, as he smashed five fours and five sixes.

“It just seemed to hit the middle of the bat over and over again,” he said. “He’s obviously one of the best players in the world, but when he comes off like today it is very difficult to stop him.”

Buttler said this week that he is still working on new shots, and when asked if he was taking the game to a new level, Morgan was in no doubt.

“Yeah absolutely,” he said.

“He’s certainly one of our players, and there are a few of them, that are at the forefront of change in the game. He’s one of the best players in the world, but he’s still trying to improve and get better against every single bowler that he faces.

“He’s not just targeting bowlers that might suit him. It’s every bowler. You look at guys who are at the forefront of positive change in the game, taking the game forward, it says a lot about the guy.”

Morgan was also full of praise for Chris Woakes, whose new ball bowling set England on the way to victory.

“Woakesy has been excellent,” he said. “Over the years his strengths have been epitomised tonight. He’s one of the best new ball bowlers in white-ball cricket in the world. He’s accurate, his pace is up, he’s very confident in his all round skills.

“It’s not just about hitting a line and length, or trying to get the ball to move. In our first game here, he bowled an incredible slower ball to dismiss Evin Lewis. The growth within his hame is huge, he’s been right on top over the last four or five years.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in