Jos loves being the wildcard
iF ONE moment confirmed England’s dominance over Pakistan across three days at Headingley, it was the straight six Jos Buttler popped out of the ground on sunday morning and on to leeds rhinos’ rugby pitch.
England needed quick runs — and Buttler was in his element. the demise of lower-order colleagues deprived him of a maiden test hundred, but more important was the point the 27-year-old had made to himself in only his second game back in the test team.
‘My mentality has been quite similar to my first few tests,’ he said. ‘Not worrying about external factors, just trying to play the game, trusting myself. But the big difference is experience.
‘When i was a young player i didn’t really believe in experience when the older guys told me i would improve with time. i used to think you can either do it or you can’t. But now i understand how valuable experience is.’
Buttler’s approach to batting — whatever the format — is summed up by the pithy message in capital letters on the top of his bat handle: ‘F*** it’. But as his test returns began to decline during the 2015 ashes, he forgot its significance. it began to sound more like an expression of irritation.
‘i started to think too much about how to not get out, as opposed to how to score runs,’ he said. ‘i learned some valuable stuff, and got in a bad rut. the only way to get out was to be dropped, which released a lot of pressure.’
Encouraged by the new national selector Ed smith to be England’s libero at No 7, Buttler has slotted straight into the role, top-scoring in the second innings at lord’s with 67, then battering that unbeaten 80 on sunday in leeds, including 35 off his last 11 balls.
‘Coming into the series with someone putting so much faith in me as a wildcard pick gave me a hell of a lot of confidence,’ he said.
the straight six off Faheem ashraf was, he reckoned, the biggest blow he had hit in redball cricket — and another reminder that he can transfer his white-ball gifts into the test arena. ‘it was thoroughly enjoyable,’ he smiled.
and the message on his bat handle? ‘i think it’s just something that reminds me of what my best mindset is — in cricket, and probably in life as well. it puts cricket in perspective. When you nick off, does it really matter?’
the message may matter to the iCC, who could deem it in breach of their rule banning ‘messages’ on ‘clothing or equipment’.
Meanwhile, surrey’s tom Curran has replaced Chris Woakes in England’s one-day international squad against scotland in Edinburgh on sunday after Woakes suffered tightness in his right quadriceps at Headingley.