England still among T20 World Cup favourites without Stokes and Archer – Buttler

JOS BUTTLER is confident England will depart for the Twenty20 World Cup
firmly among the favourites, despite the absence of “superstars” Ben Stokes and
Jofra Archer.
England flew out to Oman yesterday where they will complete a mandatory
quarantine period before heading to their tournament base in Dubai next
Saturday.
When England landed the 50-over crown at Lord’s in 2019, Buttler, Stokes and
Archer were the men who delivered for their country when the pressure was on.
As well as excelling throughout the final against New Zealand, the trio were
called upon to settle an unprecedented ‘super over’ – with Stokes and Buttler
batting in the six-ball decider and Archer chosen as the bowler to close it out.
But with Stokes on an extended hiatus due to mental health issues and Archer
recovering from a long-term elbow injury, England’s hopes of becoming the first-
ever men’s side to hold both limited-overs trophies at the same time have been
dented.
Buttler, though, is buoyant about the prospects of doing an unprecedented
double.
“I think we’re certainly one of the favourite teams. I know we are missing Ben and
Jofra, who are two superstars of the game, but I still look down that list and see
some real match-winners in our side,” he said.
“I think any side in the world would miss those guys but I’m really excited about
the squad we’ve got.

“There are other fantastic teams around – India are always strong, the West
Indies have a lot of experience in T20 cricket and a lot of six-hitting ability – but
we are a really good team.
“We will focus a lot on ourselves, playing to the best of our ability and if we do
that, I think we’ll go a long way. To become double world champions would be a
huge achievement and it won’t be easy, I think we all understand that.”
In the absence of Stokes and Archer, England head coach Chris Silverwood
could find himself relying on two players who were firmly on the periphery of the
set-up 12 months ago to add some X factor to a familiar unit.
Liam Livingstone has seen his stock soar recently, with his fearless ball-striking
quickly emerging as the number one attraction in the first season of The Hundred
before he struck England’s fastest-ever international century in July – a 42-ball
blitz against Pakistan.
Archer’s spot, meanwhile, has been scooped up by his Sussex team-mate Tymal
Mills – another success story over The Hundred with Southern Brave and a
death-bowling specialist who last played for England in 2016.
Buttler, speaking at Sixes Cricket Club as an ambassador for Booking.com’s
sponsorship of the World Cup, said: “Liam had fantastic summer. The century
against Pakistan and The Hundred – he was the poster boy of that – so he will go
into the tournament full of confidence.
“We have a number of match-winners and Liam is another one of those. I
enjoyed watching The Hundred and it was great to see Tymal operating.
“We’ve seen him before in an England shirt and it’s a fantastic story for him to be
back now at a World Cup.
“He’s got that left-arm angle, extreme pace and he’s got a good slower ball, so
he’s a great guy to have in your squad and someone who can pose a lot of
problems.”
England begin their campaign on October 23 against the West Indies and also
share a group with Australia, South Africa and two first-round qualifiers.
(PA Sport)