England white-ball coach Matthew Mott says that the ongoing series against West Indies in the Caribbean is almost a mock drill for the squad which will play the T20 World Cup next year. The shortest-format World Cup will be co-hosted by the USA and West Indies in June next year and England will enter as the defending champions. 

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“We always said with this series we’ll go pretty close to the side we’re looking for, otherwise why would they be here?” Mott said, ahead of the series decider. “We don’t get many opportunities to play together before the World Cup. So this is a very strong team we’ve bought out here.”

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The five-match series currently stands equal at 2-2 with England bouncing back from a 0-2 deficit. The Three Lions won the last two matches emphatically – first by chasing a record 223 in the third T20I and then by scoring 267 runs in the fourth match.

England’s opening pair of Phil Salt and Jos Buttler were the fulcrum of their win in the last two matches and Mott is confident of them continuing the job.

“It’s looking pretty good, isn’t it?” Mott said with a smile when asked about the Buttler-Salt pair that has put on two century partnerships in the last two innings. “We’ve got a lot of time between now and then. Obviously, Salty has put an undeniable case there and Jos is one of the greatest of all time. So how we get that top six or seven going will be an interesting thing.”

The England coach also confirmed that Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer will be in the mix for selection, subject to fitness.

“I think that’s a given,” Mott said of the duo about being in the mix for World Cup selection. “Ben, aside from his incredible match-winning ability in every department, gives us that ability to have a seam bowler in your top six.

“In terms of Jofra, you’ve just got absolute box-office pace, change of pace, bowl any over in the innings. Bowl your Super Over, bowl your last over when they need to. Him on the park is massive, everyone would agree with that.”

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