England wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler has revealed that England has been testing a system where coded information is passed from the team’s performance analyst to captain Eoin Morgan during their current white-ball tour of South Africa.
Nathan Leamon, England analyst, had placed a series of numbers and letters on clipboards on the team’s dressing room balcony to give Morgan suggestions for the on-field match-ups during the third and final T20I in Cape Town on Tuesday. However, it is up to Morgan to use or ignore it on the field.
England has cleared the use of coded messages with the match referee and anti-corruption officials during the ongoing series in South Africa, and, are trialing the live data system to which England and Wales Cricket Board described as a “live informational resource”.
England’s limited-overs vice-captain has made the revelations after helping England to complete a 3-0 series sweep and taken them to the top of the ICC T20 rankings on December 1.
Buttler told Sky Sports: “(Leamon) was calling out the EuroMillions numbers - the lads were checking their tickets! Seriously, analysis has become such a huge part of the game.”
He signed off by saying, “Eoin is one of the best captains in the world, a fantastic, instinctive captain, and there’s a nice balance going on. You have to be careful how you use the information best - there still has to be an instinctive, intuitive side to the game but if you can use analysis to better that then it is a force for good.”
