ELIZABETH BOTCHERBY: Mott is an honest coach who will hold his players, and himself, to account and will expect every individual to take responsibility for their actions
When asked about his future during Australia's Women's World Cup-winning campaign, Matthew Mott said: "As a coach, you have to look at the next pathway. There'll always be that 'what's next?' But I'm thoroughly enjoying what I'm doing at the moment. I do not feel the need to rush off anywhere else.
"A lot of people think it's a step up to go into the men's programme. I think it's just a step across."
The question arose after he was linked to the vacant head coach position with Australia's men's side. He wasn't the man for the job on that occasion – they chose Justin Langer's right-hand man, Andrew McDonald – but just a few months later, he's taking that sideways step, beating out many people's favourite, Paul Collingwood, to become England's new white-ball head coach.
His face may be less familiar, he possesses no international caps, but his coaching CV speaks for itself.
Prior to replacing Cathryn Fitzpatrick as Australia's women's head coach in 2015, the former Victoria and Queensland batter enjoyed considerable success as head coach of New South Wales, leading the state to Sheffield Shield, Big Bash and T20 Champions League honours at the back end of the noughties.
He spent three seasons with Glamorgan between 2011 and 2013, finishing second in the Yorkshire Bank 40 in his final season in charge. As an assistant coach, he's worked with Kolkata Knight Riders, Sydney Sixers, Ireland and Australia.
However, it's his work with Australia's women's side for which he is best known.
Matthew Mott is the new head coach of the England men's white-ball team [Getty Images]
Over the past seven years, he's steered the team to three World Cup crowns, reaching the final (2016, T20) and semi-final (2017, ODI) on the other two occasions; overseen the longest ODI-winning streak in men's or women's cricket (26 matches); and retained the Ashes on three occasions since capturing the urn at the first attempt in 2015.
At the time of his departure, Australia are double world champions and the No.1 ranked side in both formats.
Now, the cynics might question how helpful his tenure with Australia's women is for determining his suitability and potential for success with England's men. After all, Australia have long been the dominant side in women's cricket – their domestic set-up is streets ahead of anywhere else in terms of professionalisation, the WBBL is the premier women's T20 competition, they'd won a hatful of World Cups (including three T20 titles on the spin) before he arrived. He did not reinvent women's cricket in Australia.
However, his seven-year stint was not all champagne and medals. He successfully navigated the loss of a handful of key players to retirement (Alex Blackwell, Delissa Kimmince, Kristen Beams) or injury – his 2022 World Cup squad was missing Sophie Molineux, Georgia Wareham and Tayla Vlaeminck among others, and, more importantly, he turned arguably the most disappointing result in the team's recent history – their semi-final exit against India at the 2017 World Cup – from a cricketing disaster into a "crucible moment".
MATTHEW MOTT: FACTFILEBorn: October 3, 1973Nationality: AustralianPlaying career - teams: Queensland, VictoriaFirst-class playing career: 66 matches, 3,723 runs, 7 wicketsList A playing career: 24 matches, 452 runs, 6 wicketsCoaching career - teams: New South Wales, Glamorgan, Kolkata Knight Riders (assistant coach), Australia Women
He made no excuses, instead acknowledging his side's complacency – "we all expected to be in the final" – and Harmanpreet Kaur's superiority on the day, and a few months later, sat down with his squad to, as he told Sporting News Australia in 2021, "rip the band aid off".
After an emotionally-charged session of introspection, he challenged his squad to come up with one page of key values which they would "live by" and "hold each other to account on". They settled on fearless, team first, informed and accountable, later tweaking the list to fearless, team first and evolve. And since their semi-final exit, Australia have lost just two ODIs from a possible 42.
For Mott, accountability is a cornerstone of coaching philosophy.
"The single most used excuse is, I just didn't know my role and I wasn't clear on my role. So, we're trying to get ahead of that and navigate that and be crystal clear on each person's role in that team and they sign off on it, so they're informed about their role and are actually accountable.
Mott has enjoyed success with Australia's women [Getty Images]
"And also, to the coaching staff because probably some of the criticism was that we did a lot of planning at the front end of the series or campaigns, but we tended then to just let it slide a little bit, maybe not debrief as well or as detailed, especially if we won."
That's the first thing England fans should expect from Mott: an honest coach who will hold his players, and himself, to account and will expect every individual to take responsibility for their actions.
Another Mott trademark in white-ball cricket is his aggressive style of play and, in particular, his penchant for hard-hitting allrounders. Since making her debut in February 2017, Ashleigh Gardner has appeared in 100 of Australia's 107 white-ball internationals – only the ever-present Alyssa Healy can match her haul. A promising sign for a player like Liam Livingstone, who could become an axis point for the entire XI.
Around Gardner was a strong core of senior players, with Healy, Megan Schutt, Ellyse Perry, Jess Jonassen, Meg Lanning, and Beth Mooney all playing in at least 50 ODIs and 40 T20Is since 2015. Rachael Haynes (44 ODIs and 48 T20Is) is not too far behind despite not playing an international fixture between August 2013 and February 2017.
However, alongside the stability is a willingness to take a chance on untested players and pick squads based on current form – a tactic which appears to be rather unfashionable in international sport at present.
In total, 24 players were handed debuts during his seven years in charge, 21 of whom hadn't played an international match in any format prior to his arrival. Of those 21, 18 were under-25 when they won their first cap and 11 of them couldn't legally buy a drink in the United States.
Mott will work alongside Eoin Morgan with England [Getty Images]
In 2016, for example, he took a chance on 17-year-old Lauren Cheatle, selecting the teenager for series against India and New Zealand as well as the T20 World Cup after she picked up 18 wickets during the inaugural Women's Big Bash. Other debutants include Mooney, Amanda-Jade Wellington, Tahlia McGrath, Georgia Wareham, Annabel Sutherland, Hannah Darlington and Darcie Brown, and with all of them still in their mid-20s or younger, Mott is handing his successor a side that could stay together for another decade.
At the other end of the age scale, after taking 47 wickets across the first two seasons of the WBBL, Sarah Aley was rewarded with international selection at the age of 33. She only lasted three matches, taking two ODI wickets, but deserved her shot after being the standout domestic bowler for two seasons. Likewise, Erin Burns, who made her debut at 31 after scoring 250 runs and taking 11 wickets in WBBL04 – an allrounder, anyone?
Admittedly, the appointment of Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes promised a new era for the Test side, shortly before a conservative squad selection burst that bubble. But if Mott is allowed to develop the white-ball squad in the same way, he could establish an Australia-esque production line of promising young talent and offer some exciting squad selections, with county favourites finally rewarded for their efforts – Sam Hain for England, anyone?
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