Jos Buttler eager to 'repay some faith' after Test struggles for England

Jos Buttler is determined to repay the faith shown in him as a Test cricketer after admitting he is past the age where he can be picked on potential alone.

Aged 30, with 41 caps and having been England’s first-choice wicketkeeper since the end of last summer, Buttler was retained by the selectors for next month’s tour of Sri Lanka during a winter averaging 17 with the bat.

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Ed Smith, the national selector, and Chris Silverwood, the coach, have hinted Buttler will continue behind the stumps for the two-Test tour despite Ben Foakes – the man of the series in Sri Lanka just over a year ago and considered the superior wicketkeeper – getting a squad berth ahead of Jonny Bairstow.

Buttler stresses that he still views himself as wicketkeeper first and, speaking at a promotional event for his Indian Premier League team, Rajasthan Royals, restated his desire to crack what he considers the most rewarding format.

He said: “I haven’t quite played as well as I would have liked [this winter], but you don’t become a bad player overnight so I’m looking to repay some faith and get back to playing my best cricket.

“I’m very committed to Test cricket. It’s the best form of the game; it’s the hardest form of the game. That’s what makes it – when you have good moments they are the most rewarding.

“I’ve got massive self-belief and a lot of it is about fulfilling potential. But I’m too old now to get picked on potential. I feel I have a lot of potential in my game; I haven’t got to the level I know I can get to. That’s a big driver for me.”

There have been a couple of theories as to why, bar 117 runs across two innings in the summer’s Ashes finale and a recent T20 half-century in South Africa, Buttler has struggled since his key role in last July’s World Cup final. After all he had averaged 40 from 13 Tests since Smith recalled him from the IPL in 2018.

Getting over the emotional stress of that super-over finale at Lord’s is one, while the mentally draining aspect of being an all-format internationalis another.

Buttler, perhaps mindful the Sri Lanka tour is followed by seven weeks picking up £490,000 in the IPL, is keen to downplay these.

He said: “I don’t think [fatigue] is necessarily the biggest thing. That’s an easy excuse to make. I just haven’t played quite well enough at times. I’ve made too many mistakes, really. When you play well you feel like you make the right decision a lot of the time, in a very good head space.

“[Getting over the World Cup] is an easy assumption to make. Definitely a lot went into the World Cup, not just that summer but for four years, and probably the realisation of it coming together and achieving that takes you and confuses you a little bit – that’s been your clear cut-off for a long time. But again I maintain I just haven’t played as well as I’d like and that’s through decision-making probably.”

While Buttler’s Test career urgently needs another jolt of runs – the challenge, he claims, is trusting his defence and judgment around off stump – there is no doubt about his importance looking ahead to the T20 World Cup in Australia later this year. The question here is rather what is his best position.

As a T20 international opener the right-hander averages 42 with a strike rate of 162. Yet given a glut of potential top-order players – not least the World Cup-winning Bairstow/Jason Roy axis – there is a growing swell of opinion his 360-degree hitting may be needed as a finisher down the order.

Buttler’s preference is seemingly to stay up top, even if he stresses that he will perform in whatever position Silverwood and the captain, Eoin Morgan, require.

“In T20 cricket the top three or four positions have got to be the best places to bat. You get to take advantage of the powerplay,” Buttler said. “I enjoy both roles but your ideal role is to open and still be there at the end and to affect the game.”