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There is a worrying Jos Buttler trend that any England fan will not want to be reminded of this World Cup.
In all but one of his innings so far this tournament, he has scored fewer runs than he did in his previous.
The once star of England’s white ball game has found himself in a rut and a score of two last time out in Pakistan poses the real question of is it time for England to drop Buttler?
The arguments to do so are clear. Buttler started the tournament with an okay if not fantastic 26 against Nepal but that slipped to 21 against the tournament’s surprise package West Indies.
Against Scotland, Buttler managed just three, the same score he managed in the next game against Italy.
He started the Super Eight phase with seven against Sri Lanka but lasted just three balls in a chase of Pakistan’s 164.
To make matters worse, Buttler is occupying one of the two opening spots and crucially at the crease for the six-over powerplay. There is a more than strong argument to suggest that if not dropped entirely, Buttler should drop down the order to allow other batters who are in better nick to enjoy the best time to score runs.
The argument against doing so is one that is becoming increasingly based on history than what could be expected to come.
Buttler is England’s T20 top scorer by more than 1,500 runs. Eoin Morgan may have been the face of white-ball transformation but it was Buttler that was the engine behind it and crucially the one who carried on when Morgan retired.
Buttler’s drop in form is not just confined to the World Cup either. Away from an unbeaten 97 in the South Africa franchise league, he failed to score above 25 and in England’s series against Sri Lanka, he averaged 27. Tom Banton meanwhile averaged 45.
That has been Buttler’s benefit so far, there have been other players to pick up the pieces. Jacob Bethell has been an erstwhile opener given how soon he has appeared at the crease and disruption at the top order has a knock-on effect for all those below.
The world of modern sport means almost everyone has a podcast and the benefit of that is we have heard direct from the horse’s mouth.
“T20 is one of those games that asks you to keep making plays,” Buttler said on his ‘For the Love of Cricket’ podcast he shares with Stuart Broad.
“There’s times where you’ve maybe been out of form in a Test match, with the batting coach, who might say ‘just rein it in for a bit and try to bat for an hour and it will come back to you’.
“So by hook or by crook, bat for an hour. But in T20s, you’ve got to keep playing the scoreboard, if you’re chasing 10 an over you’ve got to play accordingly.
“I saw Nasser say ‘just bat for 15 overs’ and I would love to just bat for 15 overs but I don’t want to bat for 15 overs just for myself and ignore the game. You’ve got to still play the game.”
It is an honest admission from Buttler but also one that shows he’s not going to change his gameplan anytime soon. Buttler is hoping to hit his way into form but England are past the stage of a World Cup when you can wait for a player to do that.
The match against Pakistan should be a turning point and if not a complete dropping from the team, it is time for the coaches to make a change and try and unlock the best of this talented England batting side. Buttler should move down to five and allow Bethell a deserved return to the opening spots. As for Buttler, a return to a position he spent the majority of his T20 career at and the finisher role may allow him to return to his imperious best.
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The post Should England drop Jos Buttler after dismal T20 World Cup showing? appeared first on Cricket365.
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