Brendon McCullum, England’s newly-appointed white-ball coach, hailed Jos Buttler as the greatest limited-overs cricketer England has ever produced.
A two-time World Cup winner with the Three Lions, Buttler made his debut with the England cricket team in 2011. Since then, he has played over 300 limited over matches for the national side scoring over 8000 runs combined.
Buttler was part of the England squad, led by Eoin Morgan, that scripted a memorable victory in the 2019 ODI World Cup 2019. The Englishman scored 312 runs from nine innings in the campaign at home, including a crucial fifty in the final against New Zealand.
Jos Buttler, who plays for the Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League, also led England to their second T20 World Cup title in 2022. He was England’s top batter in the tournament with 225 runs from six matches at an average of 45.00 and a strike rate of 144.23.
“I think Jos has had an unbelievable career. If he were to retire tomorrow, he goes down as arguably the greatest white-ball player England has ever had. He has nothing left to prove,” McCullum was quoted as saying by Sky Sports.
“I want him to get into a space in the next few years where he isn’t trying to protect anything. He just goes out there and absolutely loves playing for England, loves leading the white-ball side and is able to get the most out of the talent around him,” McCullum said.
The 34-year-old Buttler’s numbers in the white-ball game for England speaks for itself. He has amassed 5022 runs from 181 ODIs at an average of just under 40 and a strike rate of 117.11. He has also scored 11 hundreds and 26 fifties.
Only five Englishmen have scored over 5000 runs in ODI cricket.
The wicketkeeper-batter has played 124 T20Is scoring 3264 runs which includes a hundred and 24 fifties. Buttler averages 35.86 with an impressive strike rate of 146.30. He is England’s all-time leading run-scorer and the most experienced player in T20I cricket.
As the only Englishman to cross 3000 runs in T20I cricket, Buttler is currently eighth in the all-time run scorers list in the format, which is led by Rohit Sharma with 4231.
Buttler is currently out of the England T20I squad that is playing Australia at home. He suffered a setback in his recovery from a right calf injury that has kept him out of action since the World T20 2024 campaign.
Brendon McCullum will take charge of the England white-ball side from January 2025, ahead of the tour of India and the 2025 Champions Trophy.
