Domination, dynasty: Mott plots path for England

The evening after Australia's World Cup final win over England last month, after celebrations had started to dwindle, Matthew Mott sat in a Christchurch restaurant with his support staff and allowed his mind to drift.

Australia's run in the World Cup had been flawless; a classic example of a masterful team executing at every turn and hitting the peak of its powers at the perfect time.

It had also marked an end point to almost five years of chasing redemption from a humbling semi-final exit at the 2017 tournament, a result that famously provided this side with the rudder and drive it needed to hit unprecedented highs in the one-day game, and culminated in the dominant unbeaten World Cup run in New Zealand.

Over a steak dinner and a few glasses of red wine, Mott savoured the company of his close colleagues, some of whom had ridden the entire tenure of his time in charge. As he looked around, he was struck by a feeling.

"I had a sixth sense," Mott tells cricket.com.au. "It was a really good night, a really nice dinner, and something inside of me was like, I'm not sure I'm going to get to do this much more.

"I hadn't gone for the (England) job at that stage but there was something there, it was like, This could be the right time, and I hadn't had that feeling before.

"So I do think it's the right time, and I think they're in really good shape to keep having success. I'll miss them a lot, but it can't go on forever."

Image Id: D92D8116B3CA4B70B9F4B4091ED34602 Image Caption: 'Something inside of me was like, I'm not sure I'm going to get to do this much more' // Getty

Mott had always been philosophical about that. For two years he had been working through an exit strategy with high performance and national teams boss Ben Oliver that would allow the changeover in leadership to happen with minimal disruption. So when the England men's white-ball teams head coaching position became vacant at what had already felt like "the right time" to leave, the stars seemed to be aligning.

In a way it is ironic that Mott was even a serious candidate for such a prestigious role, given that is a reflection of the revolutionary road the women's game has been on in recent years, and his undeniably influential role in that revolution.

While the 48-year-old would be the first to shift the accolades for success to his players, just as he credits Cricket Australia for the landmark pay deal that shifted the landscape of the game for women in this country, his fingerprints on the all-conquering national side are evident wherever you look closely.

They're there in the way Beth Mooney transformed from frustrated back-up 'keeper-batter to one of the world's elite batters and fielders; they're there in the way Ashleigh Gardner's unique talents have been harnessed instead of wasted, as they might have been with less thoughtful guidance; they're there in the way Alyssa Healy found comfort and confidence in the creation of a warmer, more inclusive squad environment, was elevated up the order and became perhaps the world's most dangerous white-ball batter; and they're there in the way, through Australia's golden run, a new generation has been drip-fed into the set-up, strategically introduced with an eye to maintaining success in both the present and the future.

But now Mott's future is here. Next Wednesday he will fly out to the UK ahead of joining up with the ODI world champions for a three-match series against the Netherlands next month. But the formative steps towards plotting for the next 18 months, which takes in World Cups in both abbreviated formats, have already been taken, while the Netherlands series will also act as a meet and greet of sorts for Mott and the England ODI squad he is inheriting.

"Eoin (Morgan, England white-ball captain) and I spoke last night actually, about how to build in some opportunities to (implement) some of the messages that I believe in (during the Netherlands series) and see where that alignment is," he says.

"We seem very aligned on our general philosophy and how we think the team should play, but it'll be nice just having the opportunity in the playing group to talk a little bit more to that, and answer any questions, and just develop that connection."

Morgan, with his experience and intelligent leadership, seems an ideal figure to facilitate Mott's bedding-in period which, given the major tournaments looming, will have to be brief. The benchmark for England now, following their breakthrough 50-over title in 2019 and their formidable T20 playing list, is nothing short of more major silverware, while the longer-term plan from the ECB, Mott says, it to push for dynastic success.

With three world titles to his name in a four-year stretch, it is something he is more familiar with than perhaps any current national coach out there, and doubtless that was a key plank of his appeal for England.

Image Id: 4A6DECB8473A418DAF158C4A4913543F Image Caption: Mott and skipper Meg Lanning with the 2019 Ashes trophy // Getty

"A lot of the line of questioning in the interviews was about, 'How do you see you taking the team forward?'" he says. "And I do see a lot of similarities (between the Australian women and England men's squads); taking over a pretty good team that's in a good spot, with a good leader in Eoin Morgan.

"So the team's functioning quite well, it's just about how we get those incremental gains, because that sustained success is what England's craving.

"They're pretty comfortable that they've got a good team and good depth but trying to compete in every tournament is what they want to do.

"Hopefully the experiences I've had with what we've done (with Australia) might be able to just add another layer to that."

Mott's framing of England's ambition with the word 'compete' might jar with that aforementioned benchmark, but he insists the binaries of winning and losing were rarely discussed during his seven-year tenure with Australia. Instead, success was achieved by a tried-and-true method of focusing on the present.

"I don't think internally with the women's team we ever really talked about having to win World Cups, as such," he explains. "It was more like staying present, staying in the moment, and if you keep doing that, day-in, day-out, the end result falls your way.

"That was part of the success, and a big part of that was that it wasn't just me saying that – it was the entire group saying, 'Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves, there's a lot of cricket to be played in between … if we can be really good today and better tomorrow, that will just keep stacking up'.

"Even that run we had in ODI cricket, breaking the record was never internally discussed. I don't remember anyone really talking about that, but we did speak a lot about, 'Well, next game we're playing India – how do we beat them?"

As Mott prepares to instil that mindset into his players, it is difficult for the rest of us not to peek ahead five months, when he will return to these shores with an England squad that will fancy its chances of knocking over the T20 world champions in their own backyard. He feels well equipped to "take away some of the myths about some of the grounds" for his players as they look to improve on their semi-final exit in the UAE last year and join the Australian women as the only sides to hold both white-ball world titles at once.

"When you get into these roles, it's those big events that you put at the forefront of your mind and try and make sure you've got a really clear plan on what the team might look like, and what are the what ifs?" he says.

"I'm really comfortable with the discussions I've had with Eoin and (new managing director of England men's cricket) Rob Key already about a lot of that."

And so Mott walks into his new role buoyed by the security of his past, and knowing that the scenarios England will face and the aspirations they have are all challenges he has already successfully navigated. But as he takes on one of the most high-pressure jobs in cricket, he is also acutely aware that his history will hold currency for only so long.

"I don't think I'll ever be ready for the level of scrutiny – not many people would be," he says. "I'll just do my best. I'll consult a lot, and be collaborative with all the key people, but we're going to make mistakes, and when you cop it, you've just got to cop it.

"But I don't think I'll be reading too much social media. You've just got to do what you think's right, and whether it's good press or bad press, take both with a grain of salt.

"One of the great quotes I heard was from (legendary NRL coach) Wayne Bennett, who said, 'If you start listening to the fans, it's not long before you're sitting with them'."