‘Cricket lags behind in on-field messaging’: Buttler explains why McCullum’s captain-coach communication is the way forward

MUMBAI: In Formula One, race engineers direct drivers in real time over radio. In football, managers bark instructions from the touchline. In cricket, players have traditionally been left to figure it out themselves out in the middle, but that may be changing.

During England’s T20 World Cup opener against Nepal at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday, head coach Brendon McCullum was seen communicating with captain Harry Brook on a walkie-talkie during a drinks break. McCullum also stayed in touch with Brook during England’s recent white-ball tour of Sri Lanka.



Former England captain Jos Buttler believes cricket remains behind other sports when it comes to relaying messages to players on the field. “I think so, there’s (been) walkietalkies for a while to be fair. But then the communication from top to bottom has always been really good in the group,” Buttler told reporters.

Buttler said coaches in other sports have long used real-time communication and noted that he had seen the approach in the IPL too. “In cricket, coaches are getting more involved real-time. I’ve played in the IPL, at Gujarat (Titans), Ashish Nehra is very active on the boundary ropes. But it seems like cricket is the kind of sport where we are still a bit behind, maybe in that area where you look at other sports, the managers and coaches, and you think of rugby, where they are always running messages. So, maybe that will come more and more into cricket,” he said.

Calling McCullum “as sharp a coach as I’ve ever worked with”, Buttler said the walkie-talkie is another example of his edge. “Baz can sit with his feet up and his sunglasses on and look very relaxed but he’s as sharp a coach as I’ve ever worked with. He doesn’t miss a beat,” Buttler said, adding: “The walkietalkie’s there so he can just send a few messages down to the guys on the bench and if there’s anything to relay on to the pitch. It’s a more obvious line of communication.”


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