Jos Buttler’s numbers in the recent T20 World Cup were, by his own admission, “disappointing”. Eight innings, 87 runs, not one score past 30. Even so, the 33-year-old wicketkeeper-batter has another year and a half on his ECB central deal and would like nothing more than to dust himself down and face India in July’s five T20s and three ODIs.
“I hope so,” Buttler said on his podcast, For the Love of Cricket. “I don’t know. Obviously I had a poor tournament, which is disappointing, but I’ve been playing some of the best cricket of my [career] in recent years, so hopefully I can get back to playing my best.”
The immediate question is whether the selectors will grant that wish. England’s semi-final exit to India means four ICC events in a row with only one Buttler fifty. He is no longer white-ball captain, so, as he put it, selection is out of his hands. “I certainly have ambitions [to continue playing for England] but no longer being a captain, I’m not a selector and whatever, so what will be will be. Yeah, we will see.”
Shortly after returning from the Caribbean, Buttler disappeared with his family to the French Alps. “I couldn’t have been further away from cricket, which for me at the time was just perfect. It’s exactly what I needed,” he said. The week was, in his words, “really refreshing – I really enjoyed it, a complete sort of release.”
Once the batteries were recharged, reflection followed. “Slowly but surely, I’d say at the start of this week, [I am] just starting to reflect a bit and have a few thoughts about what’s important to me and my cricket, and why it probably didn’t go quite as I would’ve liked.”
He admits there is no single reason for the slump. “There’s elements [to what went wrong] that I actually don’t really know exactly. For all your best intentions and hard work and efforts to perform, it just didn’t work, and sometimes that’s okay as well. That’s something I’ve had to realise. It wasn’t for a lack of effort. It just didn’t quite happen.”
Criticism of England’s preparation has circled since the loss to India, yet Buttler was quick to protect those around the set-up, calling the Brook–McCullum dressing room “a fantastic environment”. Of the champions he added that India were “a serious team” and “worthy winners”.
For now, the focus shifts to the IPL, where Buttler joins Gujarat Titans this weekend. A productive season would do no harm to that ambition of an England return. Just as important, he suggests, is a clear head. “I’ve been playing some good cricket – I just need to find that rhythm again,” he said before heading for the airport.
