Jos Buttler hopeful Ben Stokes and Joe Root return to England’s white-ball set-up
The experienced pair have not played the shorter formats for England since the 2023 World Cup debacle in India
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Your support makes all the difference.Jos Buttler has his fingers crossed Ben Stokes and Joe Root are keen on white-ball returns for England in a bid to get the “team back to where we want to be”.
England have given youth a chance to shine since surrendering both limited-overs World Cups and they ended a tour of the Caribbean by claiming a first T20 series victory overseas in more than two years.
But they have lost 13 of 20 ODIs dating back to the start of last year’s World Cup debacle in India, with neither Stokes or Root pulling on coloured clothing for England since the end of that campaign.
Stokes opted out of consideration for this year’s T20 World Cup but he has intimated he would be open to a white-ball comeback when Brendon McCullum takes charge of England in all three formats in January.
With the 50-over Champions Trophy three months away, Buttler wants to combine the inexperience of the likes of Jacob Bethell with seasoned practitioners in fellow 2019 World Cup winners Stokes and Root.
“I can’t speak for them individually but I hope they have white-ball aspirations – they’re two great players,” England’s limited-overs captain said after the fifth T20 was washed out in St Lucia.
“There’s a lot of depth in the team and a lot of experience out the team as well. There’s an exciting blend to get together and make sure that we get the white-ball team back to where we want to be.
“It’s conversations for the next few weeks with the guys in charge. The guys here have played really well. Some of the young players have done themselves no harm at all. There are people who aren’t here who will have aspirations to be in the white-ball side as well. It’s really exciting.”
When the coaching roles were split a couple of years ago, Matthew Mott’s ODI and T20 outfits took a backseat – especially in bilateral cricket – to McCullum as he rebuilt a languishing Test side.
But Mott’s sacking in June after another World Cup disappointment and England unifying the coaching roles under McCullum has led to the expectation there will be more of a crossover of talent in future.
“Naturally the teams will become closer in terms of personnel but the overall messaging will be coming from one man who is in charge of England cricket now,” Buttler said.
“The guys who play all three formats won’t feel it’s (being caught between the) red or white-ball (formats) as much anymore. Maybe you’ll see the same faces and the same guy in charge, no matter what colour the ball is. It’s certainly going to give more consistency.”
PA