Jos Buttler refuses to “bat for 15 overs just for myself and ignore the game” in a bid to get out of his rut at the T20 World Cup.
Buttler is widely accepted as England’s greatest white-ball batter of all-time but he has not made a single fifty in 14 international innings this winter, with a top-score of 39 across ODIs and T20s.
He has rebounded from similar drop-offs in his career and his reputation means his place in the England team is not under threat ahead of their opening match in the Super 8s against Sri Lanka in Pallekele on Sunday.
But he will not seek to just occupy the crease and be initially watchful – as was suggested earlier this week by former England captain Nasser Hussain – in an attempt to get back into his groove.
“T20 is one of those games that asks you to keep making plays,” Buttler said on the ‘For the Love of Cricket’ podcast.
“There’s times where you’ve maybe been out of form in a Test match, with the batting coach, who might say ‘just rein it in for a bit and try to bat for an hour and it will come back to you’.
“So by hook or by crook, bat for an hour. But in T20s, you’ve got to keep playing the scoreboard, if you’re chasing 10 an over you’ve got to play accordingly.
“I saw Nasser say ‘just bat for 15 overs’ and I would love to just bat for 15 overs but I don’t want to bat for 15 overs just for myself and ignore the game. You’ve got to still play the game.”
Buttler made an unbeaten 97 in the SA20 last month but he then amassed scores of 12, 20, 15, 22, three and one and endured a disappointing series in Sri Lanka, which has followed him to the World Cup.
He followed up middling innings of 26 and 21 against Nepal and the West Indies in Mumbai with two knocks of three in Kolkata in the wins over Scotland and Italy as England scraped through the group stage.
“A bit frustrated,” he said when summing up his campaign so far. “The game just keeps challenging you, no matter what stage of your career you’re at, there’s always something challenging you.
“I’ve been through lots of patches of poor form over 15 years in all different formats, it’s always the same things you come back to at the end which is stand still, watch the ball and trust yourself.
“The only person who can score my runs is myself. I’m not going to score them by hiding away or sending anyone else out, I’ve got to put my own shirt on, mark middle and off we go again. It always comes back at some point so looking forward to the next opportunity.”
Jacob Bethell insisted nobody is doubting Buttler and he is convinced his teammate will put together an innings of substance when it matters most over the next couple of weeks.
“He’s fine,” Bethell said on Friday. “The options he has taken haven’t come off but no one in that side is worried about Jos in terms of performance.
“He will come good when we need him in the in the big stages of this tournament.”
