Ready to field risks? England captain Jos Buttler thinking twice

Dharamsala, October 9

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England captain Jos Buttler made a scathing assessment of the HPCA Stadium outfield, terming it as “poor” ahead of their World Cup match against Bangladesh here tomorrow.

Buttler’s observation came after Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott too had expressed his displeasure over the outfield at the venue after their match against Bangladesh.

It’s poor in my own opinion. I think any time you’re sort of talking about being careful diving or when you’re fielding, it sort of goes against everything you want to be as a team.’

Jos Buttler, England Captain

While Trott was a bit circumspect in his views, Buttler gave a more candid opinion.

“Yeah, a few (concerns) I think,” Butter said today, adding, “It’s poor in my own opinion. I think any time you’re sort of talking about being careful diving or sort of being careful when you’re fielding, it sort of goes against everything you want to be as a team. You know you want to dive through our houses to save a run. So, that’s obviously not ideal, the way the surface is, the outfield. The outfield is different to when we played here in the IPL.”

The question was posed to Buttler after several players slipped while chasing the ball during the match between Afghanistan and Bangladesh. Mujeeb Ur Rahman fell on his knees while taking a dive, giving some anxious moments to the Afghan camp.

Buttler said injury could happen on any surface but entering the match with that in the back of the mind was not a good thing.

“Yeah, injuries can happen at any time, on any surface, but I think it’s (HPCA Stadium) definitely one where you’re going to have to be a little bit careful, which isn’t what you want to be doing playing for your country. You want to put your body on the line and be trying to save every single run or have confidence in the field,” he said.

Buttler said Ben Stokes, who is recuperating from a hip niggle, might not start. The all-rounder did not play in England’s tournament opener against New Zealand as well.