Lord’s-IPL clash presents ‘tough decision’ for England vice-captain

Jos Buttler accepts the idea of missing a Lord’s Test to play in the Indian Premier League is “far from perfect” but believes the tournament has a big role to play in helping England win the Twenty20 World Cup.

Buttler is one of a handful of cross-format regulars who could find themselves 4,000 miles away from the home of cricket when Joe Root leads out his country against New Zealand in the first international of the domestic summer, depending on how his Rajasthan Royals franchise progress in this year’s IPL.

With the competition final on May 30 and the Blacks Caps Test starting on June 2, the England and Wales Cricket Board has concluded that it would not be appropriate to summon players back – a move that is sure to prove even more divisive nearer the time if the Royals trio of Buttler, Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer are caught in the middle.

Buttler admits to being conflicted but feels England’s wider aims – which include becoming 20-over world champions in India later this year – are best served by embracing the opportunity.

Asked how he would explain the decision to critics, he said: “I completely understand where they’d be coming from. It’s a far from perfect situation and I don’t really have an answer to come back with to be honest.

“Of course the schedule at the moment is very tough. The ECB and the players work very closely together to try and manage that so is there a perfect answer at the moment? No, and certainly not in the times we are operating in at the moment.

“We all know the benefits of the IPL. The tournament is the biggest in the whole of cricket in terms of money and careers can be short. But with the experience you gain there are so many pluses to the IPL and I think that has been quite obvious in the upturn in the white-ball game in England.

“It makes it a tough decision. All I can say is the IPL has had an outstanding effect on English cricket so far and the individuals involved in it.”

Buttler is back in the thick of a full-strength England dressing room ahead of a five-match T20 series against India, starting on Friday, having returned home for a rest period that covered the final three matches of the recent Test series.