“That’s one part of simplifying how you break down the target,” Pollard explains. “Saying it and actually understanding how to do it are different things. You can just say yes, you can hit five sixes but how do you hit the five sixes? Who do you hit the five sixes against? In the Caribbean, different theories and factors are going to determine how you go about it.”
“The wickets are spinning and sometimes they’re slow,” Pollard reflects on the tournament’s pitches. “You have to use your power or your natural genetics to get ahead.”
In Trinidad & Tobago in December, Pollard and Buttler discussed how to take their partnership in a new direction. For the first time, Pollard will coach Buttler, after being recruited as consultant for the T20 World Cup.
His appointment rectifies what Rob Key identified as one of the glaring errors of last year’s dismal ODI World Cup campaign: the lack of any coach with local knowledge. With his knowledge of pitches in the Caribbean, Pollard will replicate Mike Hussey’s role during England’s T20 World Cup win in Australia two years ago. Aged 36, Pollard also brings experience playing with and against most of the tournament’s best players.
With Buttler, “the conversation was about the best thing for England in a World Cup,” Pollard explains. “And having the expertise and the knowledge in Caribbean conditions for the World Cup.
“In a transitional phase in my career – still playing and doing a little bit of coaching and consultancy here and there – it’s going to bode well for me in the future as well. It just came up and it was something that made sense. I’m looking forward to it.”
Watching England’s 3-2 defeat in their T20 series in the Caribbean before Christmas, Pollard gained some ideas for how they could improve. “The knowledge and the computer and the brain is still ticking and working – storing some stuff that might need to be worked on when that time comes.”
Among England’s greatest challenges will be to adapt between the wickets in different countries; the variety of Caribbean conditions is among the greatest difficulties for visiting teams. After beginning their campaign in Barbados, which suits taller and quicker bowlers, England will, all being well, need to navigate a semi-final at either Guyana or Trinidad, where spin reigns.
“That’s what the world tends to not see and understand with us Caribbean cricketers and what we endure in terms of pitches and conditions. It is totally different.”
Pollard sees his role for England as “understanding the nature of the Caribbean and how cricket plays here. We will get to know more when we sit down and meet up and discuss what is needed. Right now as it stands, it’s a broad sort of role. Hopefully, it narrows down to more tactics and different things when that time comes closer.”
Pollard is already developing the contours of his coaching style. He believes in players taking ownership, seeing a coach’s role as to add a few choice comments.
“Making sure they’re in the right frame of mind is something that is going to be very, very important,” he explains. “The most important thing is man-management: letting them realise the potential and the talent that they have and some of the things that they have not tapped into.
“Everything is time and place. And that’s from an emotional standpoint, mental standpoint now. Winning or losing a game – what needs to be said after? I think that’s very important in how you get the best out of people and a team.”
While Pollard’s contracted involvement is exclusively for the T20 World Cup – IPL commitments depending, he could join the squad for the Pakistan series from May 22 – he hopes to work with England again. “If it goes well, that will be a feather in the cap. Hopefully, they’ll see the need for someone of my experience to be with the England team.
“My job, as I’ve always done playing cricket, is to focus on what I need to do in the present. Whatever happens in the future, good or bad, you take it on the chin. You enjoy it and you continue moving on.”
Come June 28, Pollard hopes that his journey will take him to Kensington Oval for the T20 World Cup final: the second of his career, to go with the one he won with West Indies in 2012. He remains a “supporter” of West Indies, and passionate about the game in the region.
Yet, asked whether his ideal final would be England against West Indies, Pollard laughs. Then, the businessman in him speaks. “The dream final would be England vs anybody.”
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