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England are currently tied at 2-2 in their five-match series against West Indies, in a contest that has been enthralling throughout with over 100 sixes hit in four matches.
The series has been invaluable preparation for England, with all of their group-stage fixtures for the World Cup next year expected to be in Antigua, Barbados and St Lucia.
“We always said with this series we’ll go pretty close to the side we’re looking for, otherwise why would they be here?” Mott said, a day out from the series decider. “We don’t get many opportunities to play together before the World Cup. So this is a very strong team we’ve bought out here.”
“It’s looking pretty good, isn’t it?” Mott smiled when asked about the Buttler-Salt pairing that has put on back-to-back century partnerships in their last two innings. “We’ve got a lot of time between now and then. Obviously, Salty has put an undeniable case there and Jos is one of the greatest of all time. So how we get that top six or seven going will be an interesting thing.”
“I think that’s a given,” Mott said of whether the duo would would be in the mix for World Cup selection. “Ben, aside from his incredible match-winning ability in every department, gives us that ability to have a seam bowler in your top six that gives you so many options with your team balance…It makes selection a hell of a lot easier. So that’s a given.
“In terms of Jofra, you’ve just got absolute box-office pace, change of pace, bowl any over in the innings. Bowl your Super Over, bowl your last over when they need to. Him on the park is massive, everyone would agree with that.”
That such big names are at risk of missing out is testament to the strength in depth of a group that, despite a torrid couple of months, have produced two superb performances to come back from 2-0 down and force a decider in Trinidad on Thursday.
“I enjoyed them both,” Mott said, when asked if he preferred one of England’s style of victories over the other. “Losing the toss over here, getting sent in, all the stats showed us [Tarouba] was a low-scoring ground. What we talked about after the last game was we had to play with that intensity, whether we’re batting first or chasing. That was the most pleasing thing from yesterday, is that it would have been easy to get a 180 score, 20 or 30 above par, but as soon as we got off to that really positive start, we just kept the foot down as if we were chasing a massive score.”
“There was a realisation that the game that West Indies were bringing to us was certainly a power game and talked about matching fire with fire.
“A few people spoke. Jos spoke, Freddie spoke and I spoke about that. I’ve really enjoyed Freddie’s perspective, coming in as a guy who’s experienced the highs and lows of the game, to come in and he’s added a lot of fresh energy. It’s a great perspective, obviously what he’s been through in the last year or so. Sometimes it’s just a couple of words here and there, but essentially it came from within the playing group.”
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