Mott sacked rumours ‘not true’ – ECB chief Gould

Rumours that England white-ball coach Matthew Mott has been sacked are “certainly not true”, says England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive Richard Gould.

Earlier this week, The Times reported that Australian Mott was set to leave his role after disappointing campaigns in England’s 50-over and 20-over World Cup defences in the past nine months.

England director of men’s cricket Rob Key is assessing those tournaments and is holding talks with Mott and captain Jos Buttler.

Immediately after the T20 World Cup, Key offered no assurances that Mott or captain Buttler would stay in their roles.

Asked by BBC Test Match Special if Mott had already “received his cards”, Gould said: “That’s not true. That’s certainly not true.

“Matthew Mott is a really good guy and coach. He’s got a great track record and it is the same with Jos [Buttler].

“We are always assessing options – that is what happens in high-performance sport, you are always assessing your options.

“You never want to be drawn into being given the dreaded vote of confidence or anything like that. Competitive sport always brings scrutiny and decisions.

“We’ll constantly want to assess our options but we’ll always want to do the right thing by the sport, the team and individuals.”

Mott, 50, was appointed when England split the head coach roles in 2022 and later that year presided over the triumph at the T20 World Cup in his home country.

But England, champions in 2019, endured a calamitous 50-over World Cup in India last year, winning only three of their nine matches.

And they surrendered the T20 title in the Caribbean and United States in June, beaten in the semi-finals by eventual champions India.

A run to the last four seemed like a minimum requirement for Mott to keep his job, though England managed to win just one of the four games they played against other Test-playing sides.

At the beginning of July, Key was asked if Buttler and Mott would remain in charge and said he would look “at what’s the best way for that white-ball team to move forward”.

Asked if Mott’s job was safe, Gould added: “I’m not going to be giving, or drawn into, any vote of confidence because I know where that leads.

“We’ll always use whatever time we’ve got available to make the best decisions possible. We won’t be pressured into anything other than that.”

He was then asked if any decision was imminent and said: “No.”

Mott has a losing record in one-day internationals, having lost 18 and won 16 of his completed matches in charge, but a better record in T20s, where he has 23 wins and 19 defeats.