Jos Buttler desires to rediscover his mojo with the bat in one-day internationals as he looks to strengthen his position as England captain on the Champions Trophy in Pakistan.
In 33 ODIs since being appointed everlasting white-ball skipper in June 2022, Buttler averages 33.13 with a strike-rate of 99.2, a pointy dip from 41.2 and 121.28 respectively in his first 151 matches.
His prolonged lean spell has coincided with England’s fall from grace in colored clothing they usually head into Saturday’s Champions Trophy opener against Australia on the back of 16 defeats in 23 ODIs.
Having batted at number five for much of his time in charge, Buttler returns to 6 at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium – where he was a pillar of success for predecessor Eoin Morgan between 2015-19.
Confident
“I feel very confident in my very own form,” Buttler said.
“I’m excited and optimistic. I feel like 50 overs has been my best format over my profession, it’s where I’ve had probably the most impact.
“I would like to try to double down on that super strength of being within the middle-order, playing impactful innings and being really true to my very own identity as a cricketer.
“I believe that’s really something I’m tapping back into. Over a time period that’s the best way I’ve played and that’s what I would like to get out of this tournament and going forward.
“Over the remaining of my profession I would like to be true to that and if I can I’ll be very content.”
While Phil Salt and Ben Duckett will open with Jamie Smith the surprise alternative at number three – having never batted there before for England – Buttler feels there’s scope to rejig the order in certain scenarios.
Previously when England had got off to a flyer, Buttler was sent in at number 4 to rub salt into the wound and in 14 ODIs there he averages 68.1, contrasted with 34.63 in 75 matches two places lower.
Yet Buttler, who flourished as England’s finisher during their run from 2015 no-hopers to 2019 world champions, rejected the notion he was sacrificing himself for those higher up the order.
Comfortable at Six
“In my whole profession in ODI cricket I’ve probably batted at six greater than anywhere so I’m very comfortable in that role,” Buttler said.
“I even have huge trust in all of us, in each player. I feel like we’ve set the team up in a certain way that provides us the perfect likelihood in the meanwhile. That’s exciting.
“If we want to alter that at any point we’re not going to die in a hole and say we’re doing this whatever happens. If we wish to jig things around or change things we will try this.
“But we also want to present people enough trust to know we back them in that position and we trust them to get the job done.”
Reinforced Batting
England reinforcing their batting, with Joe Root, Harry Brook and Buttler each dropping one place to accommodate Smith, leaves them with Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, Brydon Carse and Adil Rashid as frontline bowling options.
- v Australia, Lahore – February 22
- v Afghanistan, Lahore – February 26
- v South Africa, Karachi – March 1
While Root and Liam Livingstone are expected to share duties because the fifth bowler, England need to add ballast to their batting following a chastening 3-0 ODI series clean sweep by India last week.
Duckett attracted criticism from former England captain Kevin Pietersen amongst others for saying he didn’t care in regards to the series end in India so long as they beat them within the Champions Trophy.
“Sometimes headlines might be created out of things that perhaps someone doesn’t quite mean, or words might be misconstrued or might be taken out of context,” Buttler added.
“But each player who plays international sport regardless of what sport it’s, I can guarantee wouldn’t have gotten there in the event that they weren’t ultra-competitive and didn’t wish to win.
“Don’t mistake that for guys saying they don’t, but what people must understand is that folks saying they wish to win doesn’t guarantee results. You may have to seek out ways to take care of the things which you could control.”
READ MORE: Nothing will faze him – Jos Buttler backs Jamie Smith to thrive at three
