England head coach Brendon McCullum said that he was incredibly sad for Jos Buttler, who stepped down as the team’s white-ball captain on Friday, February 28. After England’s disastrous Champions Trophy campaign, where they were knocked out after losing the first two group-stage games, Jos Buttler decided to call time on his captaincy.
The wicketkeeper-batter Brendon McCullum , who had taken over from the legendary Eoin Morgan before the T20 World Cup 2022, stepped down after a torrid year and a half. Under Jos Buttler’s captaincy, England failed to reach the top four in the ODI World Cup 2023, T20 World Cup 2024, and now, the Champions Trophy 2025.
Jos Buttler’s career as captain for England
Buttler took over as England’s captain after the retirement of the World Cup-winning captain, Eoin Morgan, in June of 2022. Five months into his leadership ,Jos Buttler enjoyed the highest of highs when he led England to the T20 World Cup win in Australia. However, with that, England and Buttler’s downfall began in ODIs and T20Is, with the team failing in three consecutive ICC events.
Jos Buttler’s England finished seventh in the 2023 ODI World Cup with just three wins from nine games, ended as semi-finalists after losing to India in the 2024 T20 World Cup and before suffering the Champions Trophy low.
Jos Buttler took over the reigns of England’s white-ball sides following Eoin Morgan’s retirement in 2022 and instantly won the T20 World Cup in Australia later that year. But results in the two formats nosedived thereafter as England were knocked out in the group stages of the 2023 ODI World Cup. They then crashed out at the semifinal stage in the defence of their T20 crown, losing convincingly to India in Guyana.
Amid the dwindling fortunes, England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) got Brendon McCullum to coach the white-ball sides starting 2025 in addition to his Test match responsibilities. But his partnership with Jos Buttler didn’t result in any quick fixes as England lost nine of the 10 white-ball games since the turn of the year.
While he will likely go down as England’s best white-ball batter, Jos Buttler’s ODI form, like that of the side he led, had been on a sharp downturn over the last 18 months. He averages 26.40 in his last 21 innings, with a strike rate of just over 100 – down from 115.97 over his ODI career. He managed starts in each of the two games this Champions Trophy, coming into the middle order while England had a platform to build off, but got out for 23 off 21 and 38 off 42.
In all, Jos Buttler captained England in 44 ODIs and 51 T20Is, winning 18 and 26 games respectively. He has the second-worst win-loss ratio in ODIs for any England captain with a minimum of 15 games led. Leading in 43 ODIs, Jos Buttler managed 18 wins besides 25 defeats. Jos Buttler led the T20I side in 51, second only to Morgan (72), registering 26 wins and 22 losses.
Speaking at a joint press conference alongside Buttler, McCullum reacted to the news and said that he had an inkling of Buttler’s decision after their loss against Afghanistan in the previous match of the tournament.
Brendon McCullum hails Jos Buttler ahead of his final white-ball game as England captain in CT 2025
England coach Brendon McCullum has hailed Jos Buttler as the latter prepares to captain the national team for the last time on Saturday. McCullum praised the keeper-batter’s selflessness and asserted that he remains a vital player for them. The former New Zealand player had taken over as the white-ball coach of the team in January 2025, ahead of the tour of India. McCullum’s start with the white-ball team has been an absolute contrast to his time with the Test side, where he had a dominant run with all-rounder Ben Stokes.
With England suffering a group-stage exit in Champions Trophy 2025, Buttler has decided to step down as the white-ball skipper. He will finish his tenure by leading against South Africa on Saturday in Karachi. Although the keeper-batter skippered England to T20 World Cup win in 2022, they have been woeful in the following three ICC tournaments.
Ahead of the clash against South Africa on Saturday, McCullum said that he hopes to get the best out of Buttler moving forward, as quoted by Sky Sports:
“He’s done a significant job, often without the best players available and often around different structures as well. It’s incredibly selfless from Jos to step aside and leave the post for someone else. He’s still a huge player for us moving forward, I’m sure we will look at ways to get the best out of him so he can have maximum impact.”
McCullum threw his weight behind the Lancashire cricketer, stating that he doesn’t deserve so much criticism as he is a World Cup-winning captain.
“Jos will have his final game as captain tomorrow. The boys will hopefully put on a good show to send him off from his captaincy journey. I feel incredibly sad for Jos, we’ve all seen over the last couple of years how much he’s invested in captaining his country and trying to get the very best out of those guys. People forget he won a World Cup only a couple of years ago, that can never be taken away from him.”
The 34-year-old’s job became untenable after successive defeats to Australia and Afghanistan in the eight-team tournament. It put England out of the semi-final race with one game remaining. His returns with the bat have also been mediocre, managing 23 against Australia and 38 against Afghanistan.
Addressing Buttler’s successor, the former New Zealand skipper said they must take stock of the situation first. He said will consult with the board before arriving at the decision, adding:
“We’ve got some time to think about that. For us, the news is less than 24 hours old so it’s pretty fresh. We’ve got a bit of time when we get home before we need to make those decisions.
“Rob Key, myself and the team at the ECB will sit down and work out exactly what that looks like and who that person will be – and what help they need to get our results back to the level that we know they should be at. There’s some really good personnel around us, some excellent thinkers of the game, very strong leaders.”
England are going to play South Africa in their final game of the Champions Trophy. If England can hammer South Africa by a massive margin, they might cause a late upset and help Afghanistan and Australia qualify for the semi-finals of the tournament. Despite being out of the semi-final race, Buttler will want to end his captaincy tenure with a win on Saturday.