In his first press conference after being handed the keys to England’s white-ball sides, coach Brendon McCullum revealed that one of his main objectives was to cheer up captain Jos Buttler.
“He has been a little bit miserable at times,” McCullum said of Buttler, noting how forlorn the skipper had appeared as England lost both of their World Cup titles in the space of nine months.
The 50-over trophy was surrendered in dismal fashion via a group-stage exit in India in late 2023, before a semi-final defeat at the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean in June of this year.
“What I want from Jos is for him to enjoy the next few years and play with a smile on his face,” added McCullum in September. “My job is to push him towards that, to get the best out of him.”
It seems like McCullum – who doesn’t officially begin his role as limited-overs supremo until January – has got his wish.
Buttler, having finally shaken off the calf injury that had sidelined him since England’s elimination from the T20 World Cup, has been a picture of happiness in the Caribbean.
Buttler plays blistering innings in Barbados
Wins will do that, of course – England have two of those from as many games against West Indies in the T20 series – and so will a riotous 83 from 45 balls, which the captain struck in Sunday’s second fixture in Barbados.
But there does seem a difference with Buttler.
Not just in his batting and fielding positions – he has dropped down to No 3 in the order to give Will Jacks a chance to open and handed the wicketkeeping gloves to Phil Salt – but also in his demeanour.
He looks to actually be having fun.
Speaking before the series, Buttler said: “However long I play for, and hopefully it’s a long time, I just want to be present and just really, really enjoy this part of my cricket.
“I don’t have to protect anything or hang on, I just want this to be an incredibly fulfilling time of my life. When you get an injury, it makes you realise how desperately you want to get back.”
Buttler smoked eight fours and six sixes in his innings of 83 from 45 balls against West Indies
West Indies’ bowlers were probably wishing Buttler hadn’t come back against them as he smoked eight fours and six sixes at Kensington Oval on Sunday night.
This piece would obviously not have been written had Buttler inside-edged Akeal Hosein onto his stumps and been dismissed for consecutive ducks, having departed first ball in Saturday’s series opener as Gudakesh Motie took a screamer of a catch at deep third. Buttler certainly wouldn’t have been smiling then.
But after Hosein’s delivery missed his leg stump by a whisker, and the England captain came through a slightly scratchy start, the full repertoire was on display.
The scoops, the sweetly-struck sixes, the spellbinding skill. The things that have made him his country’s greatest white-ball batter of all time and put him up there with the greatest anywhere.
If Buttler is able to bat with even greater freedom in this “fulfilment” part of his career, then England should reap the rewards – and opposition bowling attacks should suffer.
The only time Buttler’s smile disappeared was when he fell 17 runs short of a second T20 international century
To keep or not to keep – and should Buttler bat at No 3?
Buttler has certainly enjoyed greater freedom in the field against West Indies without the gloves on.
He held excellent catches at slip and cover in the first T20, although then blotted his copybook 24 hours later when he allowed a ball to get through him and skim away for four. Bowler Jofra Archer was far from amused.
What Buttler perhaps loses in vantage point for lbw and caught-behind reviews while not keeping, he gains in the outfield when it comes to chatting with bowlers and, in his words, “making last-minute calls”.
It was a move influenced by McCullum, who himself dispensed with the wicketkeeping gloves late his in career due to a dodgy back.
Phil Salt is wearing the wicketkeeping gloves for England
We don’t yet know whether this switch for Buttler will be a permanent one, and the same goes for his drop to No 3 in the batting order, with both experiments set to be reviewed at the end of the series.
Buttler’s swashbuckling innings in Barbados at the weekend came virtually as an opener anyway – he was in second ball after Salt, who hit a hundred in the first T20, bagged a golden duck.
Also, Jacks has not yet made a firm case to stay at the very top of the order, falling after starts in both matches with scores of 17 and 38. A microcosm of his England career to date.
In a format as short as T20, you want your best players facing as many balls as possible and England’s best player is Buttler.
Calls on keeping and batting positions are for down the line, while also on the agenda is how to remedy England’s ODI woes, with the 50-over group having lost 13 of their last 20 games.
Even if some wise old heads return for the ICC Champions Trophy early next year (Ben Stokes, Joe Root, Mark Wood, Chris Woakes, perhaps even Jonny Bairstow), there is no guarantee that will fix anything. Just look how the 2023 World Cup turned out.
But for now England’s focus is on securing a first T20I series victory on the road in two years, which they will do if they win any of the final three matches against West Indies in St Lucia this week.
You sense they have a very good chance with Buttler fit and firing – and smiling.