Buttler urges team-mates to speak up over tour bubble pressures

Jos Buttler has urged his England colleagues not to suffer in silence if life on tour with England gets difficult this winter.

England travel to South Africa for a trip that includes threeinternationalT20 matches and three one-day internationals.

It is England’s first tour during the coronavirus pandemic. Under the agreed protocols, all matches will be played in Cape

Town or Paarl and players will remain in biosecure bubbles throughout.

Vice-captain Buttler said: “I think all of us will go through it at different stages, where you feel a bit homesick or a bit claustrophobic, by not being able to get out and about as you might usually want to, so we will just have to make sure we are very aware of that.

“I think one thing the ECB (England and Wales Cricket

Board) is excellent at is looking after the players’ mental wellbeing.

“If you are feeling under pressure or not feeling yourself, having the confidence to open up and talk about it is very important.”

Buttler, 30, is used to living under such restrictions having been involved in England’s home series last summer as well as playing in the Indian Premier League, but he admits it was not always easy.

He said: “I think we have got quite used to it. We got used to the bubble in England and a few of us have taken part in the IPL and been accustomed to that. It’ll be much the same.

“But in the summer we spent a long time away from family. What was strange is that they could be half an hour downtheroadandyoucouldn’t get back to see them.

“I certainly found, staying in hotels on the ground, it was a lot tougher to escape the game.

“It was fantastic to be able to take my wife and daughter out to the IPL. It made a big difference to me individually having them with me and spending so much time together.”

Team-matesBenStokes,JofraArcherandSamCurranwill all sit out the ODI leg of the tour but Buttler, a star of the 2019 50-over World Cup win, was keen to play in both formats.

He said: “This is a relatively short tour and I was very keen to go and play because I’ve really missed one-day cricket having only played three games I think since the World Cup. I’m really looking forward to getting back in that team.”

One of the aims of the tour is to build momentum for next year’s T20 World Cup. The T20 series begins on November 27 with the ODIs starting on December 4.