Jos Buttler believes it is time to shake off the tag of promising youngster and start becoming a major player for England in one-day cricket.
The 24-year-old has the potential to be one of the most destructive 50-over “finishers” in the game, such is his capacity to score from every angle around the wicket and ability to strike the ball with such ferocity.
England’s opening World Cup game against Australia in the bear pit of the MCG on Saturday will be Buttler’s 50th one-day international, the highlight of the previous 49 being the century he scored against Sri Lanka at Lord’s last summer, the fastest by an England player in this format.
Buttler, who made his ODI debut against Pakistan in Dubai almost three years ago, thinks the World Cup is the perfect time to start consistently delivering in the way Virat Kohli does for India.
As well as batting up the order, Kohli has played 101 more ODIs than Buttler and averages 51.50 as opposed to the Englishman’s 31.63. He also has 21 centuries.
Buttler has a long way to go to reach that level but has the ability to be similarly prolific. “I want to be a consistent performer, not somebody who could be a good player for England and a no one in that team,” he said. “It’s great to have potential, it’s great to have talent but there comes a stage where you want to be someone where media and commentators talk about you being a performer for England.
“That’s the stage you have got to get to. Virat Kohli is only 26 and is not the finished article but he performs at a level which is the world’s best and that is what everyone aspires to get to as fast as they can.”
England’s team are also relatively inexperienced. Yet Buttler believes he is not the only player who needs to step up during the World Cup.
“Yes, it’s different to when I first came in. When I started Jonathan Trott and Kevin Pietersen were still in – and Graeme Swann. It is a much younger side but probably a more inexperienced and exciting side. Exciting and development are great words but now we know we have to perform. That doesn’t really wash any more. It is about being in a tournament, winning games of cricket, getting to a quarter-final and then getting as far as we can.”
Buttler made 85 with the bat on his Test debut against India at Southampton last summer, taking over the wicketkeeping duties from Matt Prior.
Many have compared Buttler’s rise to that of Australia’s Adam Gilchrist, the best wicketkeeper-batsman to have graced the game. Like Buttler, Gilchrist was raw behind the stumps when he started out in international cricket and was picked mainly on his destructive ability with the bat.
In the unrelenting environment of international cricket, frailties with the gloves can be harshly exposed. Buttler, though, believes he is making steady progress in that area of his game.
“It is a bit different because the whole winter has been one-day cricket,” he said. “Generally when you touch the ball in one-day cricket it is either a chance or you are collecting it from the boundary but there will be bigger tests to come in wicketkeeping. I feel I am really developing well and I am very happy with the way it is going. I feel a lot more confident in myself as a wicketkeeper and that I am doing the job well.
“We talked about potential and talent and it’s time to get away from those words and be talking about somebody who is performing well as a wicketkeeper.”
