Jos Buttler says England need their own Chris Gayle
Thursday 17 March 2016 15:52, UK
Jos Buttler says England must produce players like Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers if they are to challenge for silverware on the international stage.
West Indies opener Gayle put England to the sword on Wednesday with a spectacular 47-ball 100 not out as Eoin Morgan's men went down by six wickets in their opening match.
Defeat on Friday to a South Africa team which includes De Villiers - regarded as the finest T20 batsman in the world - will in all likelihood mean England are out.
And Buttler - England's biggest-hitting batsman in recent years - says they need to develop players capable of matching the exploits of Gayle and De Villiers.
"That's what you get when you turn up at world tournaments - all the best players in the world in one place," Buttler said.
"It's great for fans to see these guys perform at one time and we've got to have guys who stand up and compete with them.
"We need to produce these players in our side as well if we're going to go further and win these tournaments.
"With the bat we were probably par at best last time. We were looking more for 200 and needed someone to go on and play that big innings, to get that really big score that would have helped kick us on towards the 200 mark."
Live ICC World T20 Cricket
Buttler was on duty in Bangladesh two years ago when England failed to reach the competition's knockout phase and again when they were humiliated at the group stage of the 2015 World Cup.
He now faces the prospect of an unwanted hat-trick after England lost their opening fixture in India amid a torrent of sixes from Gayle.
"Ten months ago at the World Cup was some of the worst feelings I've ever had on a cricket field," said Buttler.
"Whether you've played in world tournaments or not, we've all had bad experiences in cricket. You learn from them, you move on from them.
"You still come back, dust yourself down and go again.
"We'll be really focused on that. It's still a game of cricket, you have the same emotions and the same thought processes but the outcome could potentially be more defining on the tournament.
"But it's still 20 overs, it's still 22 yards, and we've got to focus on that and learn from what happened against the West Indies."
