Matthew Mott: Jos Buttler and Liam Livingstone well placed to be fit for T20 World Cup

Mott, England's white-ball coach, added that Buttler would keep wicket and reserved particular praise for Harry Brook and Ben Duckett

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Liam Livingstone and Jos Buttler are expected to be fit for England ahead of the start of the T20 World Cup, head coach Matthew Mott confirmed.

Neither featured in the series win over Pakistan – Livingstone remained in England, while Buttler was with the squad but didn't make it onto the field – as the tourists won a thrilling seven-match series as they returned to the country for the first time in 17 years.

"Liam is tracking well," said Mott. "He'll be fine – he's just got to get some miles in the legs, and he should be right for the start when we get out there.

"Jos has been conservative; he was chomping at the bit at the back-end here, but the risk-reward wasn't quite there. He's going to play a pivotal role in the World Cup. We're pretty confident with where we're at."

Mott, who on the women's T20 World Cup with Australia in Melbourne two years ago, added that Buttler would keep wicket, responding to the suggestion that he might forego the gloves, having done so during The Hundred as he looked to balance keeping wicket with captaincy.

"If he's fully fit, he'll definitely look to keep," said the Australian. "He's obviously done that for a while; he had the opportunity in The Hundred to see a different side of it. He didn't see a great advantage from there, and I think when you've got the likes of Mo and Stokes in the field, he can offload a little bit of that leadership.

"He feels that's the best view for him on the ground and the one he's most accustomed to. That's what he's going to do at the start of the tournament."

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Harry Brook has enhanced his reputation in this series (Aamir Qureshi/AFP via Getty Images)

Mott also had praise for Harry Brook, who ended the series as England's leading run-scorer from No.5, and for Ben Duckett, who isn't part of England's squad for the upcoming tournament but has surely played his way into their ODI plans a year out from the World Cup in India. "Duckett has been exceptional," said Mott. "He's played spin really well and has asked a few different questions, particularly in the early games when spin was playing a big part. He turned the momentum for us, and that was great."

On Brook, he added: "He's looked really composed out there, and he seems to just pick the right times to go for his boundaries."

England won comfortably in Lahore on Sunday evening, easing to victory by 67 runs, in no small part down to a fine effort from a bowling attack led by Reece Topley and Chris Woakes, both of whom – as well as Mark Wood – arrived on the back of fitness issues but have come through unscathed.

"We came over here with some injury clouds, but we got through," said Mott. "Wood got through a few games, Woakes got through a couple. We're building nicely with that depth that we're after for the World Cup.

"We've looked at the first XI quite a bit. There's always a bit of tinkering, and form comes into it. We've also got a series against Australia first and foremost, so we'll get an opportunity to have a really good look at how that balance goes. In Australia, there are some different conditions out there, and we might tinker slightly throughout the tournament depending on who we play. We're pretty close to that first XI, and then we'll reassess from there."

He reserved a final line for Pakistan, England's hosts: "I feel like this is more than just a cricket trip, this. The people of Pakistan have done it really tough over here. They've embraced our team really well and we've enjoyed every moment of the experience."


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