Former England skipper Michael Atherton believes Jos Buttler’s reign as white-ball captain is over after his team’s elimination from the Champions Trophy by Afghanistan. Wednesday’s eight-run defeat in Lahore after losing to Australia in their opening fixture saw Buttler’s side make an ignominious exit and threw his future into question.
Asked afterwards if he got the impression the England’s captain’s tenure was drawing to a close, Atherton told Sky Sports: “I think his time is done, actually, as captain and I think that’s probably right. “England do judge themselves on these ICC events, they’ve made that very clear, that because they come along so frequently now, they build towards these tournaments.
“But England have had three bad ones in a row now, the disastrous 50-over World Cup in India, a poor T20 World Cup in the Caribbean – where they made the semis but they didn’t beat anybody of note though it – and now here, and their cricket is way below the standards which they set themselves.
“Sometimes you just have to say it’s not working and therefore it’s time for a change and time for somebody else, and I think deep down, he probably knows that.”. Atherton admitted the captaincy appeared to be weighing on Buttler, who fell for 38 to leave Joe Root to try to rescue the game, ultimately in vain despite his brilliant 120.
He added: “He looks quite care-worn, he looks like the weight of the captaincy is on him, and at a different time and under slightly less weight he’d have taken England to victory tonight along with Joe Root. “The batting is just not quite there, it’s not quite clicked for him and what England are losing from his batting, they’re not gaining from his leadership, so if that’s the trade-off, I’d prefer to see a brilliant Jos Buttler batting for England.”.
Asked who could replace Buttler should he step down, Atherton identified Harry Brook among the leading candidates. He said: “Just thinking about it, there isn’t that much choice. Harry Brook did it quite well, I thought, in the Australia series, the 50-over series that ended the summer, and it’s hard to think beyond him.”.
Meanwhile, another former England captain Nasser Hussain, bemoaned England’s lack of “smart” cricket when they needed it most. Hussain said: “They’re talented, they’re not smart. I thought Afghanistan today were smart. I thought they (England) were given a lesson in losing early wickets, but putting on a par score.”.
