England to experiment with live data system against the Proteas, says Jos Buttler

02 December 2020 - 12:44 By Reuters
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England vice-captain Jos Buttler celebrates with teammates after winning the third Twenty20 match against South Africa to complete a 3-0 whitewash away from home.
England vice-captain Jos Buttler celebrates with teammates after winning the third Twenty20 match against South Africa to complete a 3-0 whitewash away from home.
Image: REUTERS/Sumaya Hisham

England are trialing a system where coded information is passed from the team's performance analyst to captain Eoin Morgan during their limited-overs matches against South Africa, vice-captain Jos Buttler said.

England analyst Nathan Leamon had placed a series of numbers and letters on clipboards on the team's dressing room balcony to give Morgan suggestions for the on-field match-ups during South Africa's innings in the third Twenty20 win at Newlands in Cape Town on Tuesday.

The tourists have cleared the use of coded messages with the match referee and anti-corruption officials.

"(Leamon) was calling out the EuroMillions numbers - the lads were checking their tickets!" Buttler joked after the match.

"Seriously, analysis has become such a huge part of the game," he told Sky Sports.

The England and Wales Cricket Board described the system as a "live informational resource" that Morgan could choose to use or ignore on the field.

"Eoin is one of the best captains in the world, a fantastic, instinctive captain, and there's a nice balance going on," Buttler said.

"You have to be careful how you use the information best - there still has to be an instinctive, intuitive side to the game but if you can use analysis to better that then it is a force for good."

Victory at Newlands completed a 3-0 series sweep for England and sent them to the top of the International Cricket Council's Twenty20 rankings.


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