England brings in Manchester City’s psychologist ahead of the T20 World Cup

Ahead of the T20 World Cup, England coach Matthew Mott feels the team must rediscover their winning spirit. He’s brought in Manchester City’s psychologist, David Young to help players manage emotions and stay resilient under pressure during the Caribbean tournament.

England has brought back Young, their former team psychologist (2016-2020), as a short-term consultant for the upcoming T20 World Cup. Young’s return coincides with England’s quest to recapture their winning form. He previously played a key role in their 2019 ODI World Cup victory and boasts a successful track record, having helped Manchester City achieve a historic four consecutive Premier League titles. His expertise in mental resilience will be crucial for England’s players as they navigate the pressures of the World Cup in the Caribbean.

England’s star player, Jos Buttler, played a key role in bringing back David Young. Buttler previously praised Young’s support in his successful performance during the 2019 World Cup final. Young joined the England squad in Leeds before the first T20I against Pakistan (which was rained out) and will rejoin them in Cardiff on Monday. He’ll be balancing his time supporting England with helping Manchester City prepare for their FA Cup final this Saturday against Manchester United.

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Mott believes that it is good to have someone who’s a little bit removed from the squad to make sure you’re landing your message and that Young is still doing other roles but England has got him for this series, and the start of the World Cup as well.

England’s management is determined to avoid a repeat of their disastrous 2023 World Cup campaign. Coach Matthew Mott called it a “death by a thousand cuts,” referring to their string of losses that led to a group stage exit. They’re actively analyzing their mistakes to ensure a stronger showing at the upcoming T20 World Cup.

Mott said that when you’ve had such a bad stint you can’t go business as usual but you have to redefine the team and tactics.

He added that as a team they have committed to being more open in and around their training sessions, to help each other out a bit more In India, all of them were guilty of being a bit insular and trying to problem-solve among themselves.

They have made a pact to be a bit more open towards each other so that they can help each other out.

Mott has been observing the IPL and believes that England should learn from Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) winning streak to qualify for the playoffs.

He says that the way they had nothing to lose and came out and played a different brand of cricket and England could’ve done that too.

England’s T20 captain, Jos Buttler’s predecessor, Eoin Morgan, didn’t hold back on his criticism of the team’s showing in India. He hinted at deeper issues beyond just poor performance, suggesting “something else going on” within the team. This criticism came during Matthew Mott’s first series as coach, which also marked the end of Morgan’s captaincy. While the two haven’t spoken since Mott respects Morgan and his views.

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Mott believes that there’s so much going on in the dressing room and Eoin is there to speculate but the thing is that if you’re out of the dressing room, you’ll never know what is happening inside.

England will finalize their T20 World Cup squad for the ICC by Saturday’s second T20I against Pakistan at Edgbaston. They’ll stick with the initial 15 players despite minor injury concerns for Liam Livingstone and Mark Wood.