Jos Buttler has at times looked lost and uncertain in red-ball cricket, but there is a simple fix
Jos Buttler is a curious cricketer, he has been present throughout several transitional periods for various different England sides, none more significant than the journey from the 2015 World Cup debacle through to victory in 2019. Whilst this period cemented him among the greats of the white ball game, uncertainty remains over his effectiveness in the longest format.
A lot of the criticism over his Test performances are totally unfair, and plenty are merited, but it feels as though no one ever really can quite get a handle on what he is as a Test player, perhaps not even himself.
Buttler’s white-ball genius works both against, and for him at times in the longest format.
It was because of his brutal run in the IPL – 67, 51, 82, 95* and 94* after a shift to the top of the order – which prompted Ed Smith to make the call to reinstate him against Pakistan.
Equally, his brilliance in the shorter formats has counted against him, considering his overall record.
His detractors would have you believe that an overall average of 32 is an appalling record, if Buttler were not one of the best white-ball batters of the century, and simply a keeper pulled from county cricket with the same record, it would not even be a conversation.
His place in the team is far from assured, and he has never looked completely certain of his role, yet I can’t stop thinking that there are some simple changes which would get the best out of Buttler and solve England’s captaincy issue.
The only move I can see that does not involve serious upheaval, would be to move Buttler to number six, remove him from behind the stumps and award him the captaincy. He averages 47 from this position, and has a better overall record without the gloves than with them. Ben Foakes takes the gloves, and is given a proper run of games at number seven in the English summer while Buttler is given a clear role in his best position to focus on batting and leading the unit.
Now, would I be so willing to invest any more in a normal player who averaged 32 after 56 Test matches?
Probably not.
However Buttler is not a normal player.
His main issue in the format is that he is clearly at his best with a real scenario to play to. During the summer of his recall, Buttler repeatedly played a hand to rescue the innings and shepherd the tail towards respectability, but often fails to seize upon the opportunity granted to him with a platform.
His first Test century came in a losing cause, where there was a clear aim which was to bat time, his best Test innings came in England’s superb run chase in 2020 against Pakistan where he had a target to chase.
It isn’t hard to see the link between these innings and his white ball prowess.
It is also clear that he has been used incorrectly for a large part of his Test career.
If we had a player who clearly was not suited to one position in the order, and could simply move him one place, to a position where he is world class, I would like to think that we all would make the fairly simple conclusion here.
As with most decision making in the English cricket ‘brains’ trust, this has been the case for less than half of Jos Buttler’s Test career.
Ok, most of this has been out of circumstance and opportunity, with other players taking up that role, but with the exception of Ollie Pope’s brief stint of actually fulfilling his promise, no one has done it (batting 6) better than Buttler.
I see no real reason for any more hesitance to give potentially their most naturally gifted batter of this century a role in which he can bat to his potential.
They do not need to give him the captaincy of course, but I believe that batting at six without the gloves could give him a settled enough role to maximise his potential whilst performing a leadership role.
I know it is quite the pivot from ‘Buttler has been confused during underwhelming Test career’ to ‘Buttler can average plenty and captain the side’ but can anyone honestly say that they would pass up the opportunity to see a confident Jos Buttler, performing at his optimal level?
Image credit: David Molloy on flickr, Creative Commons 2.0
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/legalcode
Michael Vince on Sport 