New Delhi [India], December 15: Former England white-ball head coach Matthew Mott has expressed his confusion over the lack of attention England’s Test team pays to the World Test Championship (WTC).
Ahead of England’s three-match series against New Zealand, Test captain Ben Stokes had called the WTC “utterly confusing” and stated that the team prefers a “game-by-game, series-by-series” approach, which does not align with the long-term nature of the tournament. As a result, England is already out of the race for the WTC final and has failed to qualify for the event in both of its previous editions.
Mott, reflecting on England’s commitment to Test cricket, admitted he was “mystified” by the minimal focus on the WTC. “I don’t understand how they are so low on that. I think the World Test Championship is a great idea,” Mott said. “Some people are a little bit mystified about how it all comes together. You can win a Test match and then drop a couple of places, and there’s the over-rates thing,” he added.
He also compared Australia’s joy in winning the WTC and questioned how it might compare to winning the Ashes. “The Australians got a lot of joy out of winning it, but where would they regard that as opposed to winning the Ashes?” Mott asked.
Mott then reflected on the decline of his tenure, which began with England’s disappointing defense of their ODI World Cup title in India last year. England failed to qualify for the knockout stages after suffering early defeats and ended the tournament in seventh place with just six points. Mott admitted that his time as head coach never recovered after the World Cup, saying, “India was really tough. It was quite obvious we were in a big hole. Usually, when you have a bad World Cup, you’re bundled out pretty quickly. But the format meant we were there, and it just didn’t get any better, and we just kept getting flogged from all quarters.”
Mott also spoke about the challenges of managing players before major tournaments. “A lot of the time our lead-in to World Cups was not ideal. That was our biggest challenge – we had tired players starting tournaments, and that’s not what you want. You want players champing at the bit to play, rather than having to try to manage them,” he added.