England’s white-ball skipper, Jos Buttler is having a tough time as he is facing uncertainty over his participation against Australia in the upcoming T20I series. Jos Buttler was looking to make his return to cricket following his side’s semifinal defeat to India in the T20 World Cup 2024. Jos Buttler sustained a calf injury while training before the Hundred tournament.
Marcus Trescothick has backed Jos Buttler as England’s white-ball captain but says the upcoming series against Australia offers a chance to experiment with who plays as wicketkeeper. England Test lead batting coach Trescothick will serve as interim head coach for September’s three T20Is and five one-day internationals – live on Sky Sports – following Matthew Mott’s departure at the end of July, with Brendon McCullum taking on the role from January.
Jos Buttler aims a comeback but may be doubtful for Australia T20Is due to injury
A setback in his recovery from a calf injury has ruled Jos Buttler out of Lancashire’s T20 Blast quarter-final, and leaves him facing a battle to be fit for England’s T20I series against Australia.
England are not overly concerned about Jos Buttler’s fitness ahead of their first T20I on September 11 and remain hopeful that he will be available to captain the side throughout Australia’s eight-match white-ball tour. England’s new-look squad are due to report to the Utilita Bowl on Sunday ahead of two training days, when their medical staff will get a clearer picture as to whether Jos Buttler will be available.
England’s white-ball teams do not have an official vice-captain, with Sam Curran and Phil Salt the main contenders to deputies in the event that Jos Buttler is unavailable. He is not expected to keep wicket during the T20I series, which increases the chance that he will be able to feature despite suffering a setback.
Jos Buttler has not played any cricket since England’s semi-final defeat to India at June’s T20 World Cup. Jos Buttler sustained a calf injury in July while preparing for the Hundred which ruled him out of the tournament, and had been targeting Wednesday’s quarter-final at Hove for his comeback after weeks of rehabilitation.
Although England’s Cricket World Cup defence last October ended in the group stage and their performances were questioned despite reaching the semi-finals of June’s T20 World Cup, Marcus Trescothick is in no doubt fellow ex-Somerset player Jos Buttler is the right person to lead the team.
Marcus Trescothick declares Jos Buttler is not leaving England white-ball captaincy anytime soon ahead of T20I series vs Australia
England’s interim white-ball coach Marcus Trescothick doesn’t expect the white-ball captaincy to shift from Jos Buttler anytime soon. The former opener asserted that Buttler has tremendous leadership qualities and suggested that he has kept the team together quite well.
The keeper-batter’s captaincy role came under doubt with England enduring unsuccessful campaigns in the 2023 ODI and 2024 T20 World Cups. However, he will continue to lead England in limited-overs formats, returning in the upcoming white-ball series against Australia.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Trescothick admitted that the last two World Cup campaigns have unsettled England, but believes their team is still in a good place.
“I think he is (right person to lead the team). The attributes he shows behind the scenes are really important to lead this team. For whatever reason, the tough couple of World Cups they have had, they’ve potentially come out of those not feeling great about our one-day cricket, but it’s still in a really good place and Jos is going to lead that forward for a period of time at the moment, and I don’t see that changing.”
Nevertheless, Jos Buttler remains doubtful for the T20I series against Australia due to a calf injury. He hasn’t played competitive cricket since the T20 World Cup 2024 semi-final against India.
Marcus Trescothick praises Jos Buttler
Marcus Trescothick suggested that Jos Buttler’s role in the upcoming white-ball series against Australia will be to fine-tune England’s gameplans, adding:
“Me coming in is just to try to enhance that as much as possible, to make him (Buttler) feel like this is the way the group is going to go, the way the team is going to evolve in a different way to get the most out of him as captain. There are so many things he does so well that we’ve just got to bring out, enhance, and make it better as we go along.”
The home series against Australia begins on September 11 with the three T20Is before moving on to the ODIs. England will play their opening T20I against Australia on September 11. It will be their first white-ball series after the departure of head coach Matthew Mott, who stepped down from the role following the T20 World Cup 2024 exit. Marcus Trescothick will take over as an interim head coach, while no permanent replacement has been named.