Jos Buttler, England’s white-ball captain, will miss the upcoming T20I series against Australia, which starts on September 11, after suffering a setback in his recovery from a right calf injury.
Phil Salt will step in as the captain for the T20I series and will also keep wickets. Salt served as a vice-captain to Buttler in The Hundred, where they both play for Manchester Originals.
The 34-year-old Buttler, a key player for the Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League, sustained a calf injury while preparing for the Men's Hundred 2024 and had to sit out for the entire tournament. He was expected to return during the Vitality Blast 2024 for Lancashire but could not recover on time. This is his third calf injury over the last four years.
This series would have marked Buttler's first return to cricket since the T20 World Cup. He was England’s top scorer at the World Cup with 214 runs from seven innings at an average of 42.80 and a strike rate of 158.51.
At IPL 2024, Buttler scored 359 runs from 11 innings for Rajasthan Royals at an average of 39.88 and a strike rate of 140.78.
England had announced two separate 15-member squads for their three T20Is and five ODIs against Australia. This is England's last assignment at home in 2024.
The three T20I matches will begin on September 11 and take place in Southampton, Cardiff and Manchester. The ODIs will kick off from September 19 and end on September 29. The venues for the five ODI matches are Nottingham, Leeds, Chester-le-Street, Lord's and Bristol.
