Buttler’s a keeper, says Joe

JOE ROOT has backed Jos Buttler to hold off the challenge of Surrey’s Ben Foakes and keep wicket as England embark on a gruelling year.

Foakes was Player of the Series when the Test team visited Sri Lanka in 2018, scoring a century on debut at Galle and underlining his reputation as one of cricket’s smartest operators behind the stumps. Yet he has not played in a Test for almost two years.

And while the England captain was reluctant to make any grand statements about selection before the two-Test series in Galle starting on January 14, he went out of his way to support Buttler, whose most recent Test innings was a careerbest 152 against Pakistan in August.

‘What I will say is we’ve got Jos Buttler coming off the back of 150 in probably some of the best form you’ve seen him in in Test cricket,’ said Root. ‘As far as I’m concerned, it will have to be a real unique situation for that to change.

‘Jos, as a senior member of the squad in great form, was an integral part of our success in the back end of the summer. I’m really excited for him to carry that form forward. For Ben, at some point there is a likelihood that an opportunity might arise in the tour and when he gets that opportunity he’s got to take it.’