@scope (#mos-e4c927f0-6192-41e5-bfd6-83cb480b3d06) { @font-face {
font-family: “Independent Serif”;
src: url(“https://assets.the-independent.com/fonts/Independent-Serif-Medium.woff2”) format(“woff2”);
font-weight: 500;
font-style: normal;
font-display: swap;
}
@font-face {
font-family: “Independent Serif”;
src: url(“https://assets.the-independent.com/fonts/Independent-Serif-Regular.woff2”) format(“woff2”);
font-weight: 400;
font-style: normal;
font-display: swap;
}
@font-face {
font-family: “Independent Sans”;
src: url(“https://assets.the-independent.com/fonts/Independent-Sans-Regular.woff2”) format(“woff2”);
font-weight: 400;
font-style: normal;
font-display: swap;
}
@font-face {
font-family: “Independent Sans”;
src: url(“https://assets.the-independent.com/fonts/Independent-Sans-Medium.woff2”) format(“woff2”);
font-weight: 500;
font-style: normal;
font-display: swap;
}
.bookmark-experience {
box-sizing: border-box;
display: flex;
align-items: center;
justify-content: center;
position: fixed;
top: 0;
left: 0;
right: 0;
bottom: 0;
inset: 0;
width: 100%;
height: 100%;
background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.55);
z-index: 10000;
padding: 12px;
margin: 0;
}
.bookmark-experience,
.bookmark-experience * {
box-sizing: border-box;
}
.bookmark-experience .modal {
position: relative;
width: 100%;
max-width: 400px;
margin: 0;
padding: 32px 24px 28px;
text-align: center;
color: #ffffff;
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #3b030f 0%, #3b030f 27%, #76071f 52%, #3b030f 100%);
box-shadow: 2px -2px 8px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5);
}
.bookmark-experience .close-btn {
position: absolute;
top: 12px;
right: 12px;
width: 16px;
height: 16px;
cursor: pointer;
background: none;
border: none;
padding: 0;
}
.bookmark-experience .close-btn__icon,
.bookmark-experience .close-btn__icon::before,
.bookmark-experience .close-btn__icon::after {
display: block;
}
.bookmark-experience .close-btn__icon {
position: relative;
width: 16px;
height: 16px;
}
.bookmark-experience .close-btn__icon::before,
.bookmark-experience .close-btn__icon::after {
content: “”;
position: absolute;
top: 50%;
left: 0;
width: 16px;
height: 1.5px;
background: #ffffff;
}
.bookmark-experience .close-btn__icon::before { transform: translateY(-50%) rotate(45deg); }
.bookmark-experience .close-btn__icon::after { transform: translateY(-50%) rotate(-45deg); }
.bookmark-experience .logo-row {
display: flex;
align-items: center;
justify-content: center;
margin: 0 0 24px;
}
.bookmark-experience .logo-premium-image {
display: block;
height: 24px;
width: 272px;
max-width: 86%;
object-fit: contain;
}
.bookmark-experience .headline {
font-family: “Independent Serif”, Georgia, serif;
font-weight: 500;
font-size: 28px;
line-height: 32px;
letter-spacing: -0.5px;
color: #ffffff;
margin: 0 0 16px;
}
.bookmark-experience .body-text {
font-family: “Independent Serif”, Georgia, serif;
font-weight: 400;
font-size: 16px;
line-height: 22px;
letter-spacing: -0.3px;
color: #ffffff;
margin: 0 0 24px;
}
.bookmark-experience .subscribe-link {
display: flex;
align-items: center;
justify-content: center;
width: 100%;
height: 42px;
padding: 12px 16px;
background: #ffffff;
color: #76071f;
border-radius: 4px;
font-family: “Independent Sans”, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, “Segoe UI”, Roboto, sans-serif;
font-size: 14px;
font-weight: 500;
line-height: 16px;
letter-spacing: -0.5px;
text-transform: uppercase;
text-decoration: none;
}
.bookmark-experience .subscribe-link:hover,
.bookmark-experience .subscribe-link:focus {
background: #f0e6e8;
color: #76071f;
}
.bookmark-experience .login-copy {
margin: 12px 0 0;
font-family: “Independent Sans”, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, “Segoe UI”, Roboto, sans-serif;
font-size: 14px;
line-height: 18px;
letter-spacing: -0.5px;
color: #ffffff;
}
.bookmark-experience .login-link {
color: #ffffff;
text-decoration: underline;
cursor: pointer;
}
@media screen and (min-width: 600px) {
.bookmark-experience {
padding: 16px;
}
.bookmark-experience .modal {
max-width: 520px;
padding: 40px 48px 32px;
}
.bookmark-experience .close-btn,
.bookmark-experience .close-btn__icon,
.bookmark-experience .close-btn__icon::before,
.bookmark-experience .close-btn__icon::after {
width: 16px;
}
.bookmark-experience .close-btn {
top: 16px;
right: 16px;
}
.bookmark-experience .logo-premium-image {
height: 28px;
width: 320px;
}
.bookmark-experience .headline {
font-size: 32px;
line-height: 36px;
letter-spacing: -0.75px;
margin-bottom: 16px;
}
.bookmark-experience .body-text {
font-size: 16px;
line-height: 22px;
margin-bottom: 28px;
}
}
}
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Membership today.
Already a member?
Log in
html:not(.mos-bookmark-open) .bookmark-experience { display: none !important; }
Brendon McCullum’s departure as Test coach could prove beneficial for England’s World Cup ambitions, according to Jos Buttler, who says the New Zealander is now fully focused on securing the title next winter.
McCullum was sacked as Test coach in July, with Stephen Fleming eventually taking over, but remained at the helm of the white-ball squad. That side enjoyed an impressive summer, recording 11 victories alongside just two defeats.
The run included one-day international series wins against both India and Sri Lanka, offering a welcome lift to an ODI setup that had slipped from the high standards set during their 2019 World Cup victory.
Reflecting on the change, Buttler — who led the team during their disappointing title defence in 2023 — believes dividing the coaching duties allows McCullum to dedicate all his energy towards next year’s tournament in southern Africa.
“He’s only got one focus now and that is the white ball,” Buttler said on his For the Love of Cricket podcast.
“It’s not that he couldn’t do everything, because he could, but your time is more spread and you’ve got more to think about with the Test team as well.
“Now he can focus solely on white-ball cricket – T20, yes, but mainly ODI cricket with that World Cup on the horizon. It seems like Baz is naturally all in on, ‘How do I win this World Cup with this team?”
“I think he can sort of see that World Cup is not that far away. It’s a real target, now his remit has changed from four months ago being in charge of everything to, ‘Right, I can really nail down on this’. He’s just got more time and more focus on that.
“ODI cricket for England has not been consistently great for a couple of years so there’s some nice growth to go on that and this summer’s been a really good start.”
Buttler is currently out of action due to a hamstring injury and will miss the upcoming tri-series in Pakistan.
His participation in November’s tour of Australia remains uncertain, which could see England’s most experienced one-day player miss as many as eight ODIs during a key phase of World Cup preparation.
Speaking about his recovery, he said: “I’ve had a scan and I’m waiting to see the specialist. Then we’ll know what the next steps are.
“The unknown often the tough part. Any cricketer just wants a physio or a doctor to tell you, ‘On this date you’ll be back playing cricket’. Unfortunately, they can’t do that just yet.”
