Elizabeth Ammon: Time surely up for Jos Buttler, England’s unfulfilled ‘next AB de Villiers’

If that is the case, and it almost certainly should be, it will be a career best summed up as one that didn’t fulfil its potential.

The 31-year-old was recalled to the England side in August 2018 by Ed Smith, the then national selector, almost entirely based on his performances in white-ball formats, where he has wowed rather more than in any of his performances in first-class cricket. It wasn’t an entirely uncontroversial pick given that Buttler had played so little county cricket but there was logic in Smith’s argument about why he had recalled the Lancashire all-rounder. He felt that Buttler could transfer his destructive best from white-ball cricket to the Test arena and could be England’s AB de Villiers.

But given the quality of Test bowling, the pitches, the different conditions and some technical flaws that you can get away with in limited-overs cricket but can’t in the Test arena, that simply has not worked out.

In 57 Tests, there have been only two centuries, he averages a modest 31.94 and has been not out only nine times in 100 innings. There have been too few match-winning innings and too many dismissals that should not happen to a player of Test quality – epitomised on day three of the Melbourne Test when he got himself out just before tea charging down the wicket to Nathan Lyon and holing out to deep midwicket. It was a head-in-hands moment with England trying to save the series.

That’s not to say that there have not been some brilliant moments along the way, some glimpses of what Buttler could be in Test cricket. There was a century against a good India attack at Trent Bridge in 2018 and a couple of fine innings in England’s home series win over Pakistan in 2020.

He has worked hard on his wicketkeeping and over the years he has improved but he is not a natural. Keeping was always very much the lesser facet of his game and it seems to have reached its ceiling – there are better wicketkeepers out there and it is a role that England must value more highly.

Although quiet and reserved in his interviews with the media, Buttler is seen as a key figure in the dressing room where he is much more candid with his opinions. He and Joe Root are very close friends and the England captain sees him as part of the leadership team along with Ben Stokes – they are his best friends, his advisers and his confidantes. That’s all well and good but it is not enough to keep your place if the performances aren’t there.

If Root stays as captain, he will want Buttler in his side. The decision has to be taken out of his hands. The question is whether England are better side with Buttler and the answer is, sadly, probably not.

Buttler has not looked happy all series and questions have been posed whether he still enjoys Test cricket, if being a multi-format player has taken its toll and, with a very young family, if he might just prefer to walk away. But after his 207-ball, albeit ultimately fruitless, rearguard action in Adelaide he said that he had no plans to retire from the Test arena,

“It’s certainly my ambition [to continue playing Test cricket],” he said earlier this month. “I have fantastic family support. They’re very supportive of me and my career and make a lot of sacrifices for that. It’s certainly maintained my drive and ambition to try and play [Test cricket].”

Perhaps he feels he has to say that – certainly in the middle of a series – although you get the sense he means it and does want a successful Test career. Nonetheless, it may be a relief to him if the decision is taken out of his hands to allow him to focus on short-form cricket, where his market value is huge.

It would allow him to focus on his young family and he may well be in line to take over the captaincy of the white-ball team when Eoin Morgan retires, which could come sooner rather than later. There is no shame at all in being one of the world’s most successful white-ball players and leading your country in the shorter formats and that being your legacy.

England’s capitulation at Melbourne inside three days and the tame surrendering of the Ashes angered supporters. This hard-fought draw in the fourth Test in Sydney changes little and whoever is left in the charge of the team cannot be sentimental in making selection judgments. Buttler is not the best wicketkeeper-batsman available and they must now decide to invest time in someone else – be that Ben Foakes, 28, or James Bracey, 24, or even someone younger.

Everyone wanted Buttler to be England’s Adam Gilchrist. In full flow, Buttler is the kind of player that makes you shut your laptop lid and just watch but no one can say he hasn’t been given a fair crack at it. It is time to move on.

– The Times

Originally published as Elizabeth Ammon: Time surely up for Jos Buttler, England’s unfulfilled ‘next AB de Villiers’