Brilliant Buttler once again leading England charge

JOS BUTTLER believes sealing England’s first overseas Test series whitewash in 55 years with a third victory against Sri Lanka will be a huge step in the development of Joe Root’s team. It would be the first time since 1963 — when a team led by Ted Dexter won 3-0 in New Zealand — that England have sealed a clean sweep in a series of at least three Tests and only the third time overall, following a 3-0 victory in South Africa in 1896. Buttler thinks it would be a big success for the team given they had come into this series on the back of a record winless run away from home of 13 Tests. ‘It would be a fantastic achievement,’ said Buttler. ‘We spoke a lot in the build-up to the match. That was the focus of the side. Pre-series, I’m sure Sri Lanka were favourites, having beaten South Africa in that two-match series in the summer. ‘It’s a great accolade for us. It’s been a fantastic environment in the dressing room. ‘I feel, as a group, everyone is pulling in the same direction and really enjoying each other’s company, pushing each other. I think that really drives performances. It’s had a really big effect.’ The more Test cricket Buttler plays, the more extraordinary it seems that England’s former selectors left him out for 18 long months. Since his return, Buttler has made seven scores of 50-plus in ten Tests, the latest yesterday to get England out of a hole. And he did it in a way that made a mockery of the apparent view of the all-tooconservative former selection panel, who believed Buttler could not adapt his innovative white-ball game to Test cricket. A messy third day of this third Test, littered with umpiring errors and Sri Lankan own goals, was illuminated by the sheer class of Buttler, who is rapidly becoming the heartbeat of this side. England turned this final Test on its head by taking nine Sri Lankan wickets for 67 on Saturday. But they were wobbling again when they lost their first four yesterday for 39 on just about the best batting pitch of the series. That gave England what still represented a healthy lead of 135 but in a position where they could not afford another collapse of their own. Enter Buttler, better positioned now at No 6, to lead them calmly and authoritatively out of trouble and demonstrate why he must never again be left out of any England side in any format. When Buttler eventually became the sixth Englishman to fall, for 64, England were 261 ahead and stand-in captain Suranga Lakmal seemed resigned to his fate and going through the motions. England extended that lead to 326, leaving Sri Lanka facing a run chase of one more than the ground record for a consolation victory. If that seemed improbable, it looked near impossible by the close when Sri Lanka crashed to 53 for four.