BUTTLER’S RED LETTER DAY
Jos will buck the trend and stick with red-ball cricket to achieve his big Test-match dreams
JOS BUTTLER has no intention of becoming a limited-overs specialist, insisting he has unfinished business in Test cricket.
Adil Rashid and Alex Hales are the first England players to sign white-ball-only contracts with their counties, a decision that effectively ends their Test careers.
Yet Buttler has no plans to follow suit after stating his desire to get back into the Test team.
The 27-year-old showed why he is perhaps England’s most destructive limited-overs batsman when he top-scored with 79 during a dramatic three-wicket defeat by New Zealand in Sunday’s opening ODI in Hamilton.
But he has been unable to replicate that form in the 18 Tests he has played, failing to score a century and losing his place as wicketkeeper-batsman to Jonny Bairstow in late 2015. Buttler played the final three Tests of last winter’s series in India as a batsman only, but has not been considered since and appears unlikely to get a recall any time soon.
Given he has played only five County Championship games for Lancashire in the past three years and will miss the first half of next summer’s campaign to play in the Indian Premier League, it would be understandable if Buttler decided to join Rashid and Hales in turning his back on red-ball cricket. But his burning ambition to make it as a Test player means he has no intention of doing that just yet. “At the minute, I’m very happy with my situation,” said Buttler. “Yes, it does mean I still have Test ambitions. “I haven’t played a great deal of red-ball cricket recently. I think at the back end of this year, I’ll be available for quite a lot of Championship cricket – so if I’m going to get back in, that’s when I need to score runs.” England have moved from Hamilton to Mount Maunganui ahead of tomorrow’s second ODI, where they hope the presence of Ben Stokes can help them turn this five-match series around. Stokes looked sharp making his comeback on Sunday exactly five months after the late-night incident in Bristol that landed him with a charge of affray and saw him miss the entire Ashes tour. “He brings so much to the team both on and off the field,” said Buttler. “He always puts in performances – and I’m sure, having got that one game out of the way, he’ll go from strength to strength throughout the series. “He’s a world-class all-rounder. Then there’s his character around the group. His infectious personality rubs off on people – he demands the best from us. So having him back around is a great asset.”