HOW THE BUTTLER DID IT

Jos reveals secrets to his destructive power batting

JOS BUTTLER has revealed it is only by experimenting in training that he has been able to become England’s most destructive white-ball batsman of all time.

Still basking in the glory of his career-best 150 from just 77 balls on Wednesday, Buttler reflected on just how is able to score so quickly and send the ball flying into the stands with such regularity.

After all he is hardly built in the same way as Chris Gayle, who he reckons still has him covered when it comes to the size of their blows, but he is still able to connect with enough power to beat the rope at will.

And even when the big powerful shot is not on, he can still either whip the ball through the field with his fast hands and flexible wrists, or contort his body so that he can ramp and scoop the ball over the wicket-keeper.

“Hitting those sixes is a culmination of everything,” said Buttler. “It’s a lot of practice and the real fun of the game isn’t always out in the middle.

“The exploration in the nets, thinking about things, watching lots of cricket, seeing how other guys do stuff and then try to take it into games. What I really enjoy about the game is that innovation – powerhitting or whatever it is.

“Death-hitting is a swing of the bat, a path of the bat and maybe it’s just the word I use but there’s definitely time when I say, ‘My swing feels off.’

“I guess it does feel like a golf swing in the way you time it and all the things that go into it are very similar.

“There’s a lot of cricket in there, it’s just the way I view the game and the way I get the best out of how I see hitting the ball as hard as I can.

“Everyone does it differently but that’s how I do it.”

While playing one of his 12 maximums in Grenada he could easily have been standing on the tee at Augusta such was the arc of the bat and his follow through.

There are elements of other sports in there too such as baseball – something he tried with limited success last summer for a bit of promotional fun, but former Somerset team-mate Marcus Trescothick reckons a Major League Career is not beyond the realms.

Buttler added: “We did a thing at Hyde Park with the Yankees and the Dodgers. I could hit it but I kept slicing it. I think I’ll probably leave that one behind for a little bit longer.”