Buttler promises to trust his ‘instincts’ as Smith’s star turn
Batsman admits he feels like a debutant again as he aims to take his IPL form into Test arena
Nobody was more surprised to be at Lord’s yesterday at the start of the England international summer than Jos Buttler. Only a week ago, he was sitting in his hotel room in Calcutta preparing to play a crucial Indian Premier League match for his franchise, the Rajasthan Royals.
Buttler was single-handedly turning their season around with brilliant performances and thinking more about batting his team into the IPL play-offs than himself into a Test series against Pakistan.
But then his phone rang. It was Ed Smith, the new national selector, casting him as the star turn in his rejigged England batting order as a specialist No7 or, in Buttler’s words, a “luxury player”.
“It feels like another debut, really,” said Buttler. “You always think maybe that race [Test cricket] is run and will never happen again. It’s not that you live with regrets, but you definitely miss it. To get that call, the overriding emotion was excitement. Turning up here on England duty to play a Test match is unbelievable. It’s an awesome opportunity.”
Rarely do specialist No 7s consistently contribute and it is normally a role for a player with another skill to his repertoire. Buttler is a multi-faceted player, but he will not be keeping wicket. Jonny Bairstow has that job and it was noticeable at Lord’s yesterday that he alone was doing keeping drills.
Instead, Buttler, along with fellow arrivals from India Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes, was adjusting from a white ball and Indian pitches to a red Dukes ball and Lord’s in May. The pitch for the Test, which starts on Thursday, is green but, at Lord’s, overhead conditions dictate play.
Selection could be tricky. Light showers are forecast for the first two days, which will probably make England lean towards Chris Woakes and his swing bowling rather than Mark Wood’s pace, but then hot weather is forecast for the weekend. Smith was at England nets yesterday but his job is done. It will be down to Joe Root and Trevor Bayliss to pick the final XI.
The net session yesterday was an extended one, a reflection of the fact that senior figures within the camp felt England had not netted long enough, or hard enough, in Australia over the winter.
Dom Bess was busy getting stuck in during the football kickabout and then bowling in the nets with the youthful enthusiasm of someone who could not quite believe his luck, while Smith spent a long time chatting to Alastair Cook, getting to know players he has only commented on or written about. They were even washing down the statues and scrubbing the benches in the pavilion. There is a new broom off the field, too. The players are being split into groups this week to be briefed on the new Hundred tournament by the England and Wales Cricket Board.
Smith’s recall of Buttler has divided opinions. Those county batsmen told to get runs in April by Bayliss must feel they have been playing a mug’s game, living uncertain lives against the swinging ball while Buttler smashed it around in T20 powerplays.
“I’m very aware I’m the beneficiary of opinions. Not necessarily from stacking up runs in first-class cricket. I don’t know whether there’s a right or wrong. I’ve been afforded an amazing opportunity to come and play and one that I’m excited about and accepting of the noise around it. That’s outside my control,” said Buttler.
“It’s going to be a challenge but from the conversations I’ve had with Joe [Root] and Ed Smith, it’s very much that they want me to play the way that suits me and in the fashion they believe will get the best out of me in that No 7 role.”
Buttler has had two attempts at Test cricket. The first started promisingly against India in 2014, but came to a standstill in the Ashes the following summer when he looked more afraid of failure, playing against his natural game. Three Tests in India in 2016 as a stop-gap No 7 as England disintegrated brought some success, but since then Buttler looked to have lost interest in red-ball cricket, playing four first-class games last season for Lancashire without making a fifty.
Shane Warne was his team manager in India and the chats between the pair were about how he could transfer his skills to Test cricket.
“It is about trusting instincts and not fighting them,” said Buttler. In the past, I have felt as if I had to play in a certain way or be something I am not so as much as I can, I will be trusting my instincts.”