Jos Buttler intends to use England’s World Cup misery to fuel him for the rest of his career but he insisted the humbling campaign “doesn’t define me as a person or my whole career”.
England’s defence of the title they won to much acclaim in 2019 was a debacle, with Buttler not making a single fifty and averaging 15.33 in nine group-stage matches as his form completely deserted him.
Three weeks on from their final game of a grizzly trip to India, Buttler is on the road again and looking to wipe the slate clean as he leads a new-look England side on a white-ball tour of the West Indies, starting with the first of three ODIs on Sunday in Antigua.
Having taken a few painful lessons from the past few weeks, Buttler is adamant he is as committed as ever to get England back to being the standard-bearers in the limited-overs formats going forwards.
“I’ve got to use it as motivation and hunger to push myself and the team forward,” the England white-ball captain said. “Use it as a positive experience to go into the rest of my career.
“I still feel incredibly motivated and excited and it’s nice to be around some of the younger guys who are desperate to do well and, as a more senior player, it gives you a lot of energy.
“We have had one bad tournament. We have been in a great place for a long time and you see the depth of talent of guys coming through and you want to help shape that period of white-ball cricket.
“Any time that you get challenged and get pushed back, it certainly lights a few fires and motivates you. I should be in an even better place moving forward than I have been.”
Buttler and head coach Matthew Mott inevitably drew plenty of criticism for finishing seventh out of 10 teams in the subcontinent but the pair have been backed fully by director of men’s cricket Rob Key.
Having had time to digest what happened, Buttler retains a pragmatic outlook and reminds himself of team-mate Ben Stokes’ now memorable line to Jofra Archer before the pivotal super over in the 2019 World Cup final.
“Having good people around you, people who are close to you, that keeps some perspective on life and on cricket,” the double World Cup winner said. “It’s meant to be hard at times, right?
“We’re playing international cricket events against the best players in the world and they’ve all got the same ambitions as we have so there’s going to be times when it’s not easy.
“It’s this easy to be captain hindsight. Say you got XYZ wrong, when if you don’t play well enough to try and implement your plan, the decisions can maybe become a little bit irrelevant.
“I always think of Ben Stokes’ words to Jofra about the super over: whatever happens here doesn’t define you and I certainly don’t feel like that World Cup is the defining moment for me.
“It’s a huge disappointment but it doesn’t define me as a person or my whole career. So, just use it as something to make sure I look forward now and enjoy the challenges ahead.
“Life moves on, the world moves on pretty fast. There’s always something to look forward to. It’s never as bad as you think it is and it’s never as good as you think it is.”
Buttler did not reveal his XI for what is being dubbed by some as a reset as they build towards the 2025 Champions Trophy and 2027 World Cup but Will Jacks and Phil Salt are set to open the batting.
Neither player received a central contract a few weeks ago but they have an opportunity to push their case for more regular involvement alongside the likes of Rehan Ahmed, John Turner and Matthew Potts.
Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse have followed Buttler to the Caribbean from the World Cup, while a 15-strong squad is bolstered by Test regulars Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope.
“It’s certainly a bit of a new beginning,” Buttler added. “There’s some really exciting talent in this team. There’s a nice blend, I think.”
“There’s some great energy around the guys and the Caribbean is a nice place to start this journey.”
Bairstow and Moeen left out of England's white-ball squad
Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali have both been left out of England's white-ball series squad, with five uncapped players named.
As Jos Buttler looks to the future, Warwickshire batting all-rounders, Jacob Bethell and Dan Mousley, have been given their first international call-ups for the three-match T20 series against Australia next month.
Essex batter Jordan Cox, Hampshire seamer John Turner and Leicestershire left-arm bowler Josh Hull, who was named as Mark Wood's replacement in the Test squad to play Sri Lanka, have also been picked.
The latter three will also be involved for the five one-day internationals that follow.
World Cup winners Bairstow and Moeen, who have been regular fixtures in England's white-ball squad for over a decade, could have made their final international appearances after being left out of the squad, with Chris Jordan also being overlooked.
Brydon Carse, however, has been recalled for both squads after serving a betting ban, while Saqib Mahmood returns for the T20 series after recovering from injury. Buttler will also be fit to feature after overcoming a calf injury.
Marcus Trescothick will lead England for the first time against Australia after being named Matthew Mott's interim replacement.
Mott left in July following England's semi-final exit to eventual champions India in the T20 World Cup, having also failed to help England defend their 50-over world title in 2023.
The first match of the T20 series will take place on September 11 at The Ageas Bowl in Southampton.
England T20 squad to play Australia:
Jos Buttler (captain), Jofra Archer, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Jordan Cox, Sam Curran, Josh Hull, Will Jacks, Liam Livingstone, Saqib Mahmood, Dan Mousley, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Reece Topley, John Turner.
England ODI squad: Jos Buttler, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Ben Duckett, Josh Hull, Will Jacks, Matthew Potts, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Jamie Smith, Reece Topley, John Turner.
Rain restricts play to 15 overs on day one between West Indies and South Africa
Aiden Markram lost his wicket as South Africa reached 45-1 before rain stopped play on day one of the first Test against West Indies.
Markram was dismissed on nine by Jason Holder (1-2) in the 14th over.
Kemar Roach (0-6) had Markram on the back foot throughout, though it was Holder who made the breakthrough with a wicked delivery that sent the South African's off-stump tumbling.
Tony de Zorzi reached 32 not-out and Tristan Stubbs was on two not-out when, during the tea break, play was abandoned for the day.
It means 75 overs of play were lost on day one in Trinidad, where play will start early on day two.
Vandersay rips through India as Sri Lanka snatch series lead
Jeffrey Vandersay tore through India's batting lineup with six wickets as Sri Lanka snatched the ODI series lead with a 32-run victory in Colombo.
Leg-spinner Vandersay managed 6-33 – his best international figures – as Rohit Sharma's tourists collapsed in remarkable fashion on Sunday, falling 1-0 down with one ODI remaining in the three-match series.
India held their hosts to a modest 240-9 in the first innings as Washington Sundar (3-30) led the way, while Avishka Fernando and Kamindu Mendis anchored at either end of the batting order with 40 apiece.
Rohit responded by crashing 64 off just 44 deliveries as India raced to 97 without loss, only for the captain to fall when attempting to reverse sweep a climbing Vandersay delivery in the 14th over.
The 34-year-old spinner would soon remove Shubman Gill, on 35, and Shivam Dube without scoring in the same over, before trapping Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer in front to complete his first ODI five-wicket haul.
KL Rahul followed to leave India struggling at 147-6, though Axar Patel offered resistance before falling on 44 to Charith Asalanka, who then removed Sundar and Mohammed Siraj.
Arshdeep Singh was then run out as a battling Sri Lanka seized control heading into the final clash on Wednesday.
Data Debrief: Vandersay becomes Sri Lanka's new Murali
Vandersay had only managed 27 wickets in 20 previous ODI innings for Sri Lanka, though added six with an eye-catching showing of leg-spin bowling here.
His previous 4-10 best in this format came against cricketing minnows Zimbabwe, but a remarkable six-wicket haul will live long in the memory after dismissing two India greats in Rohit and Kohli.
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