The star-studded England cricket team entered into the World Cup 2023 with a lot of expectations but it turned out to be a disastrous campaign for them.
The defending champions failed to qualify for the semi-finals as they managed to register only three wins out of their nine league games.
Reflecting on the World Cup debacle, England skipper Jos Buttler said he would use this to motivate him for the rest of his career but insisted that the dismal campaign doesn't define him as a person or his entire career.
Buttler is back on the road, trying to clear the slate as he heads a new-look England side on a white-ball tour of the West Indies, starting with the three-match ODI series in Antigua on Sunday (December 3).
"Having good people around you, people who are close to you, that keeps some perspective on life and on cricket. It's meant to be hard at times, right? We're playing international cricket events against the best players in the world and they've all got the same ambitions as we have so there's going to be times when it's not easy," Buttler was quoted as saying by Sky Sports.
"It's this easy to be captain hindsight. Say you got XYZ wrong, when if you don't play well enough to try and implement your plan, the decisions can maybe become a little bit irrelevant. I always think of Ben Stokes' words to Jofra about the super over: whatever happens here doesn't define you and I certainly don't feel like that World Cup is the defining moment for me," he added.
"It's a huge disappointment but it doesn't define me as a person or my whole career. So, just use it as something to make sure I look forward now and enjoy the challenges ahead. Life moves on, the world moves on pretty fast. There's always something to look forward to. It's never as bad as you think it is and it's never as good as you think it is," he further remarked.
Besides Buttler, England’s white-ball squad includes only five other players who were part of the World Cup 2023 campaign in India, indicating a significant overhaul. Gus Atkinson, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Sam Curran, and Liam Livingstone are the other players to feature in both squads.
England ODI squad for West Indies tour: Jos Buttler (captain), Rehan Ahmed, Gus Atkinson, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Tom Hartley, Will Jacks, Liam Livingstone, Ollie Pope, Phil Salt, Matthew Potts and John Turner.
England T20I squad for West Indies tour: Jos Buttler (captain), Rehan Ahmed, Moeen Ali, Gus Atkinson, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Liam Livingstone, Tymal Mills, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Matthew Potts, Reece Topley, John Turner and Chris Woakes.
