T20 WC: Southee reflects on working with "inquisitive" Archer; backs struggling Buttler to come good

Colombo [Sri Lanka], February 26 (ANI): Ahead of his side’s ICC T20 World Cup match against New Zealand, England bowling coach Tim Southee spoke on working with pace spearhead Jofra Archer and backed a struggling Jos Buttler to come good with the bat soon.

Despite not playing an absolutely perfect game of cricket yet, England will be playing their final Super Eight match against New Zealand at Colombo on Friday.

Having already sealed their spot in the semifinals following a Harry Brook masterclass against Pakistan, the Three Lions will be aiming to go into the semifinals with some more winning momentum.

Speaking during the pre-match presser, Southee, New Zealand’s leading wicket-taker in all formats of the game, spoke on an “inquisitive” Archer and his love for the game. The express pacer is England’s top wicket-taker so far in the T20 WC, with 10 wickets in six matches at an average of 20.10 and best figures of 2/20.

“He is obviously a class bowler and played a bit against him, but I have got to know him on a different level over the last year or so. It has been brilliant to see him and how he goes about his stuff, and just chatting. He absolutely loves cricket, loves bowling, so yeah, it has been great to work alongside such a great bowler,” he said.

Southee said that he does not need to tell Jofra anything particular to make his bowling better, pointing to his “unbelievable amount of skill”.

“Nothing in particular (on his chats with Archer about his bowling). I think he has got such a great skill set, something about fast, moving the ball, an unbelievable amount of skill, sometimes almost having too much skill, and just trying to narrow down on what is effective at the time. So, yeah, I think he has been brilliant the last few games for us and hopefully can continue that over the next few games,” he added.

Besides Archer, all-rounder Jamie Overton has been great for England with his right-arm pace, taking nine wickets in five matches at an average of 12.55, with best figures of 3/18.

Southee, a tall bowler himself, sees “so many great attributes” in his bowling, especially his pace and movement. He also said that despite all this, the conversations with him are about the lengths that could work in Sri Lanka’s slower conditions.

During the presser, the focus was also on Buttler, who has been an extremely valuable servant for England’s limited-overs side for over a decade. Despite his towering overall numbers, he has struggled to do well in the ongoing tournament, scoring just 62 runs in six innings with a best score of 26.

“I do not think you would ever doubt the quality of Buttler. He has got enough numbers behind his name to suggest that he is one of England’s best white-ball batters. But we know that all batters probably find a space in their career somewhere where there is a lull. And sometimes it only takes one knock for that to change,” he added.

Southee also said that despite already sealing the semifinal spot and the pressure being off in this final Super 8 clash, the team would like to “do well every time they play”.

He also pointed out how the team has found out different players and ways to win them games.

“We had a great T20 series win against Sri Lanka in these conditions. And we have won in different ways, which is a great sign that we have not played the perfect game or played a complete performance across all three formats. But we have still found ways to win, which is a good sign. And I think you look at the nature of the lineup, if it does come off and we do have the perfect game, then it should be a great one to witness.

But I think at the moment, different guys should be in, different guys contributing, someone like Will Jacks in a reasonably new role for him to be able to come in and have the impact he has had in this tournament and I am sure those other guys that have not contributed as much as they would have liked will only be a small margin away from being their brilliant as well,” he added.

Squads:

England Squad: Philip Salt, Jos Buttler(w), Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook(c), Tom Banton, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Jamie Overton, Liam Dawson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Ben Duckett, Luke Wood, Josh Tongue, Rehan Ahmed

New Zealand Squad: Tim Seifert(w), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell, Mark Chapman, Mitchell Santner(c), Cole McConchie, Matt Henry, Ish Sodhi, Lockie Ferguson, James Neesham, Jacob Duffy, Kyle Jamieson, Devon Conway. (ANI)

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