Jos Buttler says England can put their disappointing World Cup performance behind them in the one-day series against New Zealand having selected an exciting young squad.
England will play the Black Caps in five ODIs starting at Edgbaston on Tuesday, having drawn the Test series 1-1. A number of senior players have not been selected, with Ian Bell, Stuart Broad, Jimmy Anderson and Gary Ballance among those rested in favour of a more youthful line-up. Buttler believes the young players must be allowed to flourish in an environment where there is no fear of failure and the wicketkeeper singled out Jason Roy and Sam Billings as individuals who could shine.
“These are guys who have been doing things in county cricket that are really exciting,” said Buttler. “We want them to do exactly the same thing in international cricket. If these guys come off the same way they’ve done in county cricket it would be great to watch.
“ I think it’s time to put the World Cup behind us. It was very disappointing and we learned some really key messages – where we were going so wrong.
“ A lot of people have been talking about a new era and a new brand but now it’s about actually playing that way and not just talking about it. We have to go out there with that freedom and no fear of failure and go out playing the brand of cricket that is 50-over cricket these days.”
It will be England’s first one-day series since the departure of the coach Peter Moores, who oversaw a disastrous World Cup campaign in which the team failed to advance past the group stage. Trevor Bayliss, his Australian replacement, will officially take charge before the Ashes this summer but will have a watching brief during the ODIs.
Jos Buttler was speaking at the launch of the Royal London Gilbert Cup, a new grassroots under-11 cricket tournament
