Jos Buttler opens up on his coronavirus anxieties as cricket plots a cautious return

As cricket moves towards a potential restart, with England players due to be allowed to train outside from the start of next week, there remains an anxiety among many even among those willing to take the field.

Jos Buttler is the latest player to admit to reservations over playing while declaring “complete faith” in the ECB and it’s medical team. Such thinking seems perfectly reflective of where we are right now in this cornavirus pandemic. Uncertain certainty.

For all the work that has gone on behind the scenes, from liaising with the DCMS, discussions with West Indies and Pakistan and getting to grips with a “biosecure ground” actually entails, there is only so much clarity that can be given. And while the players have the expertise of both ECB medical officers, Nick Pearce and Gurjit Bhogal, there is no remedy for the voice in the back of a player’s mind.

With Buttler, that inherent sense of worry came to him earlier in the week when reading an article on when players could start training again. “I had some natural apprehension and anxiety about that. I don’t really necessarily know why.”

Well, there are a lot of reasons why. As the 29-year old went on to say himself, there are natural performance anxieties that come with being a professional cricketer. Anxieties the game exacerbates more than most, especially for a batsman seemingly stuck in this perennially anguish between being superhuman against a white ball and mortal against the red.

“Anytime there’s uncertainty, speaking for myself, you have natural apprehension and I think it’ll take me a few days to sort of work out those feelings and work out the process for me of how I can control that.” Perhaps understandably, Buttler’s coping mechanism are aligned to how he might chase down a particularly daunting target.

The last seven weeks will be the longest some of England’s centrally contracted players have gone without cricket but also purpose. That in turn has led to some philosophical thinking around the wider vagaries of the game. As in regular life, focus on the things we used to take for granted.

“How will it look? What will my cricket look like?” wonders Buttler. “I think because we’re not going back to cricket as we know it, it’s all very new and very much step by step at the moment.”

“It’ll feel quite empty, I’m sure. We’re so lucky in England – Test cricket faces lots of challenges and, talking about Test cricket especially, challenges around the world but we get so well supported in England. Grounds are packed out and the moment of a wicket is huge. And that celebration is one of the best feelings for everyone involved on the pitch so whether you’re not allowed to high five each other or celebrate together, it will all be strange.

“And I think that’s something we just have to accept you know you can’t expect to be going back to cricket as we know it.”

Over the next few days, he will have a think about what assurances he would need. For the time being at least he has been satisfied with the flow of information, both its detail and regularity. And like the rest, reacquainting himself with the game, practicing his drives and honing those scoops, is a step towards normality. But it won’t be long until he has questions.

Already some of his England teammates have sought clarification over potential scenarios where, say, a young child gets sick. Would they be allowed to leave the quarantine area of a ground – potentially while the match is still taking place – to return to their families? Is there an option for families who they have been living with to join them at these venues? Both have answers relevant to Buttler’s own situation.

Above all else, one of the key messages from above has been that no one is under any pressure to play, nor will any withdrawal. The WICB and PCB have similarly reassured their own cricketers.

“In similar situations, it’s like going to Bangladesh,” says Buttler, on the assurances around security sought before tours to the region. “You talk it over with your family a lot, you talk as players and I think you just have to come to a decision that’s right for you. I’m sure no player would be under pressure to do something they didn’t want to do.

“Ultimately, it’ll come down to you as a player and of course they’ll be having those discussions about what it looks like to them as a side.”

Yet amid the uncertainties, professional bravado remains. Talk of 25-man squads to cater for intra squad practice and managing workloads has been lauded by some within the ECB set-up as a chance for fringe players to state their case. But the flip side is a loosening of the grip established players had on their positions.

“It’s tough to give any assurances,” says Buttler regarding assurances that choosing not to play will be regarded as a black mark. “It’s similar to potentially being injured. If someone comes in and performs well naturally that is going to affect you.”

There in may be the crux of this all. Unwittingly, this could be framed in a cricketer’s mind as a choice between risking his family or his starting berth. Whatever the decision, anxiety will prevail.