Former Australian spinner Bryce McGain claims that England wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler scouted the opposition bowling much before the big-ticket ICC T20 World Cup ‘Super 12’ clash on October 30. Buttler, the one-man demolition army whose 32-ball unbeaten 71 left Aaron Finch’s team dazed, scouted the opposition bowling much before the big-ticket ICC T20 World Cup ‘Super 12’ clash on October 30.

Buttler’s complete dominance of the Australian bowling, in which he smashed five towering sixes and an equal number of boundaries at a mind-boggling strike rate of 222, showed that he had done his homework on the Australian bowlers, as England crushed their arch-rivals by eight wickets, chasing down the total in 11.4 overs.

Advertisement

“Didn’t we get flexed on?” McGain, who has 101 First-Class wickets and has played one Test, stated on SEN Breakfast on Monday. “We were soundly defeated in all aspects against one of the extremely good T20 nations, and they really flexed on us.” They bowled excellently, preventing our batsmen from getting going, and we can examine the team selection.

“When they batted, though, Jos Buttler went berserk, as if he knew what we were up to… We were just going to bash a length, and because it was so public, he simply skipped down and sent us into the upper deck of the stands. It was a true wake-up call, and we can’t afford to make another mistake or we’ll be out. Our net-run rate plummeted, which could explain the disparity in these close-knit groups “McGain noted.

The former Australian spinner stated his team didn’t have a “clear plan” going into the match against the 2010 T20 World champions, and that Australia needed to “figure out what formula they’re going with” to advance in the tournament.

“This is the difficulty with Australia at the T20 level, we don’t know what our formula is or we don’t know what our game plan is. It changes all the time, he (coach Justin Langer) is the one that shares that information that ‘We’re going to play the extra bowler. Maybe in conditions, they felt, ‘Oh we need the extra bowler and the batting conditions are fine, we’ll trust our batters’.

“They’re in the best position to make that call, but it flips and it flops. This is now the World Cup, you’ve got to be a fine-tuned machine,” added McGain.

Some ‘strange’ selection decisions by the team management have also been criticised by spin wizard Shane Warne. Mitchell Marsh was omitted for the England match as the coach opted for an extra bowler in Ashton Agar, while a struggling Steve Smith was also given a place in the XI.

“I believe they will have to get Mitch Marsh back. They attempted without it because they needed the extra bowling option provided by all-rounder Ashton Agar, who batted at the bottom of the order. Now he’s done well… he wasn’t shamed, he performed his job, and he’s blending in as best he can. However, I believe they will require early firepower on the powerplay, and it appears that Mitch Marsh will fill that position at number three, and if we get off to a solid start, it will be alright to use him later “McGain added.