Patience pays off as Buttler proves batsman for all England’s needs

When Jos Buttler was recalled two years ago, there was an air of fantasy to the question of what kind of Test player he could be. He was initially recalled as a specialist batsman at No7 – the closest that Test cricket allows, perhaps, to a free role.

There was, perhaps, something indulgent to the idea. Yet ball-striking talent as rare as Buttler’s invites casting aside the normal rules.

Buttler’s two years in the Test side since have been turbulent. In the low-scoring Tests of 2018, he was England’s best batsman. In 2019, the year Buttler fulfilled his destiny to be a World Cup winner, this assuredness at the crease was badly mislaid. Being handed the gloves last winter promised greater clarity, but 14 Test innings without reaching 50 amounted to a miserable return on his talent. Added to some shoddiness behind the stumps, Buttler feared that each Test could be his last.

From this personal crisis, Buttler has produced his most compelling sequence of Test innings since 2018. Yet more than his contributions – 67, 38, 75 and now 87 not out sandwiching 0 not out in the truncated second Test – most impressive has been how Buttler has answered England’s needs.

The run chase in the first Test against Pakistan called for Buttler’s audacious reverse-sweeps and oneday pyrotechnics.

This innings allowed Buttler to show off his range: after whipping his second ball for four, Buttler began proactively. Yet he was content to settle into moments of riskfree accumulation, judging the opportune moment to showcase his ball-striking, plundering Yasir Shah for 16 runs in an over to prevent him exerting control as Pakistan waited for the second new ball.

When it came, Buttler balanced the need for defence with recognising how the aggressive fields meant assertiveness would be rewarded.

It held out the tantalising hope that England’s patience may now be rewarded with the full blooming of Buttler the Test cricketer.