Time for Buttler to realise his England potential

Wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler hopes the World Cup can provide the perfect stage for his coming of age as an England player.
England's Jos ButtlerEngland's Jos Buttler
England's Jos Buttler

The 24-year-old has established himself as one of the most talented young players in world cricket. However, that is a tag that is starting to sit uncomfortably with him.

Just under two years since he made his England one-day international debut, Buttler is desperate to take the next step and become a reliable match-winner.

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“I don’t want to be someone who is talked about who could be a good player for England,” he said.

“It’s great to have potential and it’s great to have talent, but there comes a stage where you want to be someone that the media and commentators don’t talk like that. They talk about you being a performer for England.

“That’s a stage where you have to get to.”

Buttler points to newly-appointed India Test skipper Virat Kohli, who is two years his senior, as proof his time has come to become one of England’s go-to men.

Kohli has established himself as one of the stars of international cricket, even while being bestowed with arguably the toughest job in the game.

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Even more significantly he has a record to be envied having already hit 21 ODI centuries in 150 games in the format.

While Buttler will only step out for his 50th ODI in the World Cup opener against Australia on Saturday, he boasts just one century so far.

That it was the fastest ever by an England player, from 61 balls at Lord’s last May, highlights the star quality that Buttler is desperate to unleash more often.

“Virat Kohli has played a lot more games, but he’s only 26. No-one talks about his potential because he performs at a stage which is the world’s best,” Buttler added.

“I think age is irrelevant. It’s about performance.

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“No-one is the finished article, Virat Kohli is nowhere near the finished article, but he performs at a level that is world’s best and that is what everyone aspires to get to as fast as they can.”

Any comparisons between Buttler and Kohli’s progress should be tempered by the fact the Englishman has spent the majority of his international career buried further down the order as a ‘finisher’.

Where Kohli has been freed to enjoy the obligingly flat surfaces of the sub-continent high up a powerful India top-order, Buttler has been restricted to a role that does not lend itself to consistent heavy scoring.

For now Buttler is happy to fulfil the role, content to do what the team asks of him, but his ambition ensures he harbours hopes of a move up the order one day soon.

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“I don’t really have (a favoured batting position),” he said.

“Coming into the England set-up, the back-end of an innings is where I’ve had a lot of success, trying to close out innings with 10-15 overs to go. I think that is a good place for me to bat.

“I’m ambitious to score bigger scores and I don’t want to be pigeon-holed as someone who can only finish an innings.

“I want to be someone who can bat for 35-40 overs and get big hundreds. That’s my ambition and if I get a chance to do that at any point then it is down to me to try and take those opportunities.

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“At the time you do what is required of you in the best place where the coach and captain see you in the team.”

England will aim to finalise their World Cup preparations with back-to-back warm-up wins in Sydney this week.

England are yet to string victories together since arriving in Australia, but they will get the chance when they meet West Indies and Pakistan over the coming days. The unofficial status of both games means that all 15 players in the World Cup squad can be used and, while some tinkering is likely, batsman James Taylor confirmed building winning form was top of the agenda.

“We’ve got two crucial games, in our eyes we are looking to win them, and put in two good performances,” Taylor said ahead of today’s West Indies match.

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“We are playing two quality teams which is nice in terms of preparation and build up to the World Cup. We are looking to win them and build from the form we had in the tri-series.”

England kept with the same XI for the final four games of the tri-series against Australia and India, with their only change coming after the opening games when James Anderson replaced Chris Jordan.

The three players in the squad who did not play during the tri-series, Alex Hales, James Tredwell and Yorkshire’s Gary Ballance – who is fit to return after breaking a finger at the start of the tour – are therefore likely to get their chance before thoughts can focus solely on the blockbuster World Cup opener against Australia in Melbourne on Saturday.

It is an occasion Taylor admits has him excited, describing the thought of opening a World Cup in Australia in front of a sell-out MCG as a ‘bucket list’ moment.

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Certainly it will be a far cry from his humble beginnings with Leicestershire in county cricket.

“We always used to get a few in at Grace Road!” Taylor said. “The MCG will be a slightly different kettle of fish.”