Jos Buttler’s time is up after Champions Trophy exit – but England’s problems run deep

England white-ball captain Jos Buttler looks set to quit after his side were knocked out of the Champions Trophy by Afghanistan, which is the latest in a long list of poor displays at ICC tournaments

Jos Buttler’s time as England white-ball captain appears to be over after his side crashed out of the Champions Trophy with a loss against to Afghanistan in Lahore.

Buttler’s reign got off to a perfect start as he guided England to glory at the 2022 T20 World Cup, just five months after he replaced the retiring Eoin Morgan. Morgan was the man widely credited with completely transforming England’s approach to white-ball cricket following their humiliating 2015 World Cup exit.

England focused strongly on white-ball cricket and Morgan spearheaded the no-fear, attacking approach that led to them memorably lifting the 2019 World Cup on home soil after beating New Zealand on boundary count following a super over.

Buttler served as Morgan’s vice-captain during his reign and will likely go down in history as England’s greatest ever white-ball batter. However, his time as captain looks set to come to an end after yet another lacklustre performance at an ICC tournament.

It was hoped that England’s T20 World Cup win was a sign of things to come under Buttler, but the wheels have very quickly come off. England lost their ODI crown at the 2023 World Cup, losing six out of nine games in the process, and were then thrashed by India as they crashed out in the semi-finals of the 2024 T20 World Cup.

Coach Matthew Mott ultimately paid the price after that tournament, with Buttler given a stay of execution and a chance to work with Brendon McCullum, who combined the white-ball job with his existing role as Test coach.

However, England won just once in eight games as they toured India ahead of the Champions Trophy and Buttler appears to have decided that his time is up. In the immediate aftermath of the eight-run defeat to Afghanistan, he told Sky Sports : “It’s tough to say, stood here right now, and I don’t want to make any sort of emotional statements.

“But I think it’s fair to say that you’ve got to consider all possibilities. I’ve enjoyed it [the captaincy]. I’ve seen lots of people say it doesn’t sit well with me, but I do enjoy it. I enjoy the challenge. Obviously, I don’t enjoy losing games of cricket and the results. And, of course, when they’re not going well, you do look at yourself in the mirror and say, ‘am I part of the problem or am I part of the solution?’ I think that’s what I’ve got to work out.”

Buttler is not a natural leader like his predecessor Morgan or Test counterpart Ben Stokes. Morgan led from the front with great self-assuredness and confidence in his methods, remaining ice cool under pressure and backing his players to the hilt.

Stokes, meanwhile, leads by example and has proved an innovative and inspired captain who has worked wonders for the Test team. Unfortunately, Buttler has appeared weighed down by the captaincy for a while now and England have been muddled in their thinking.

It has not helped that England have largely focused on Test cricket since their World Cup win, with Joe Root for example playing just 19 ODIs in the four years between the 2019 and 2023 tournaments.

The introduction of The Hundred in 2021 has also seen domestic one-day cricket in England downgraded, with Jamie Smith and Jofra Archer the only members of the team that lost to Afghanistan having featured in the One-Day Cup since then.

England have also struggled to balance their side at this tournament. Opener Ben Duckett is the only left-hander in the squad after Jacob Bethell was ruled out with a hamstring injury, while their bowling attack has greatly lacked variety with England picking six 90mph+ right-arm seamers, lead spinner Adil Rashid and part-timers Root, Bethell and Liam Livingstone in their initial squad.

It remains to be seen where England will go from here and there is another T20 World Cup on the horizon in 2026. However, there is no major 50-over tournament until the 2027 World Cup and that will give them time to reset and rebuild under McCullum.

Harry Brook appears to be the natural choice to succeed Buttler, given he is the current vice-captain and acquitted himself well when he led England in a five-match ODI series against Australia last year. However, there are much wider issues facing England that surface level changes simply cannot fix.

ODI cricket in particular has not been a major focus since they 2019 win and far too many players are now having to learn the quirks of the format on the biggest stage. As long as that remains the case, England will struggle to compete at major tournaments.

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