SA vs ENG | There’s a nice balance going on with instinctive Eoin Morgan and live analysis, claims Jos Buttler 

With the win in the third T20I against South Africa, England completed their clean sweep on the Proteas in a rather dominating fashion, and with that also claimed the top spot on the ICC rankings. However, the most interesting thing about the series was the use of a system where coded information was passed from the team’s performance analyst to captain Eoin Morgan during their limited-overs matches against South Africa. 

In the third T20I win in Cape Town on Tuesday, England analyst Nathan Leamon had placed a series of numbers and letters on clipboards on the team’s dressing room balcony to give Morgan suggestions for the on-field match-ups during South Africa’s innings. This practice of using coded messages has already been cleared with the match referee and anti-corruption officials.

England vice-captain Jos Buttler highlighted the importance of using analytics in the game. 

“(Leamon) was calling out the EuroMillions numbers - the lads were checking their tickets!,” Buttler joked after the match.

“Seriously, analysis has become such a huge part of the game,” he told Sky Sports.

The ECB have named the system “live informational resource” that Morgan could choose to use or ignore on the field. Buttler added that it provides a good balance on the field with ‘instinctive’ captain Morgan. 

“Eoin is one of the best captains in the world, a fantastic, instinctive captain, and there’s a nice balance going on,” Buttler said.

“You have to be careful how you use the information best - there still has to be an instinctive, intuitive side to the game but if you can use analysis to better that then it is a force for good.”