England are the defending winners of the men’s 50-over
World Cup for the first time ever. However, keep that from being heard by Jos
Buttler.
On the eve of the opening game, a rematch of the 2019
final, in Ahmedabad, he reiterated this position throughout his extensive media
duties at the ICC’s Captains’ Day event, in his official media conference, in a
radio interview with the BBC, and in his briefing with the UK’s touring written
press.
“I have said lots of times, I don’t see us as
defending champions. .”We’re not trying to defend anything,” he said.
“We’re trying to go there and win a World Cup. We’re in exactly the same
position as every other team.”
Buttler will
always be linked to that day at Lord’s when he ran Martin Guptill out to win
the trophy, capping off England’s four-year transformation from underdogs to
first-time global winners. Despite all the attention on Ben Stokes’ valiant
efforts, England could not have won the match in a Super Over without Buttler’s
59-run innings.
The trophy, however, has been returned to the ICC and
will be given to a different captain at this stadium in 45 days. The next six
and a half weeks won’t affect the fact that England’s name is written next to
the year 2019 on the trophy. England’s messaging from Buttler is intended to
direct attention towards the present and future.
“For me, the past is in the past,” he
explained.
“You can’t recreate something, or hold onto it
forever. It’s all about something new. It’s fantastic to be champions and the
reigning champions, and I won’t say we’ve left that behind completely because
it’s a nice place to be. But I do feel like you’ve given that trophy back now.
It’s done. It’s about trying to create something new.
“We must be hungry to try to do it again and try
to be focused on something different. Stuff in the past can be nice reference
points: you talk about experience, and I never believed in it as a young
player. I thought you could either do it, or you couldn’t. But certainly now,
as an older player, there are times that things happen and they are nice to
refer back to.”