Jos Buttler has linked up with England in Barbados ahead of his mooted return this week but he will not take the wicketkeeping gloves in the T20 series against the West Indies.
Several comeback attempts from a nagging calf injury have had to be aborted, meaning England’s white-ball captain has not played professionally since the end of June at the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean.
Having missed The Hundred in the summer, Australia’s limited-overs visit in September and the ongoing ODI series against the Windies, Buttler intends to ease his way back in as a specialist opening batter.
Phil Salt will instead be behind the stumps when the T20s start with a double-header in Bridgetown this weekend, freeing Buttler up to field closer to his bowlers and communicate with them more clearly.
Moeen Ali and Chris Jordan have previously been relied upon to carry out this role but the pair are no longer part of the set-up, with Buttler one of the few experienced heads now in the dressing room.
“Maybe it will get a little bit more out of him at mid-off having an opportunity to chat to the bowlers,” Salt said.
“The only thing that keeping takes away from you is the advantage of being there with the bowlers at the top of their marks all the time.
“Sometimes you can can get stuck in a bit of a position where the only times you’re running up to a bowler is when things aren’t going to plan and you’re running up to reaffirm positive things.”
Buttler has kept in 106 of his previous 108 T20s but he was preparing to hand over the responsibility had he been fit against Australia, with Salt taking over in T20s and Jamie Smith doing so in the ODIs.
After arriving into Barbados on Sunday evening, Buttler was one of a handful of players at optional training at the Kensington Oval, where he completed some close-in fielding drills and had five minutes of throw downs in the nets before a shower brought the session to a premature conclusion.
While Buttler focuses on reinforcing his captaincy after a tricky 12 months that has seen England sacrifice both limited-overs World Cups, Salt is all too eager to be given more influence on a match.
“It’s not something I’ve done a lot for England recently, but I enjoy keeping,” Salt said. “I feel like that’s where I offer most to the side. I think it’s the best place to see the game from at all times.
“I’ll do whatever the team requires of me, it’s always been my mentality. I want to be involved in everything. Even when I’m in the field, I want the ball to come to me every ball.”
Salt and England’s immediate priority is on Wednesday’s ODI decider after levelling the series at 1-1 last weekend, with Liam Livingstone’s buccaneering unbeaten century seeing them overhaul a 329 target.
Having spent many of his formative years growing up in Barbados, Salt has added incentive to do well, while England could call upon another couple of born-and-bred Bajans in Jofra Archer and Jacob Bethell.
“I’m desperate to do well in this game for a lot of reasons,” Salt said. “This is the ground I’ve watched the most cricket on by a distance. To do well here would be really special.”
Before Saturday’s win, England had lost 12 of their previous 18 ODIs and there is constant speculation that The Hundred relegating the domestic 50-over competition to secondary status has had a negative impact on the development of some younger players.
“I don’t think there’s many players in this team that you could go through and go ‘oh they’re doing a great job right now’,” Salt added. “That’s the reality of it because we’ve not played a lot of 50-over cricket.
“I’d love something like a domestic 50-over competition. I’d love the opportunity to play in that so you can get the rhythm and it’s not always stop-start. But that’s what we’ve got. As a player you’ve got to adapt.”