Player Profile
Universe Jos. England white ball captain and global superstar Jos Buttler made history in late 2022 by leading the Three Lions to T20 World Cup glory in Australia. In doing so, he ensured his side held both global limited overs trophies after their 50-over success in 2019.
Buttler was one of half a dozen players involved in both successes; Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes and Mark Wood being the others.
After breaking the stumps to seal the 2019 triumph at Lord’s in the Super Over against New Zealand, Buttler contributed an excellent 225 runs from six matches to the Down Under success. It left him in the top five run-scorers in the tournament, with a standout 80 not out coming in the semi-final victory over India at Adelaide. Talk about leading from the front, hey!
His involvement in the 2019 win, which captured the imagination of the nation, earned him an MBE in the New Year’s Honours list.
Just days before the T20 World Cup, the Somerset native committed his future to the Red Rose county by signing a three-year contract extension running until the end of 2025.
Whilst his appearances for Lancashire are more sporadic than regular due to commitments elsewhere with England and at the Indian Premier League, he will continue to light up Emirates Old Trafford for some time yet.
In 2023, he hit three half-centuries in 10 Vitality Blast appearances and during that campaign became only the ninth player in the history of the game to reach 10,000 career T20 runs - and only the second Englishman after Alex Hales.
In early 2024, he went beyond 11,000 career runs in that format.
Buttler took over the England captaincy from the retiring Eoin Morgan midway through 2022, and he didn’t have things all his own way as India and South Africa prevented him from winning summer series. But he ensured his team peaked at the perfect time with that T20 World Cup triumph.
He first moved to Lancashire from his home county Somerset ahead of the 2014 season in order to boost his chances of Test Match cricket, and he debuted in the longest format that summer and played 57 times - the last at the start of 2022.
He scored two centuries and was an Ashes winner on home soil in 2015.
Ironically, he made his first-class debut for Somerset against Lancashire at Taunton in 2009 and has gone on to play 122 times in first-class cricket.
The now 33-year-old contributed significantly to Lancashire’s T20 Blast title success in 2015 and was named as the club’s T20 player of the year in 2017 following 451 runs from 12 appearances with five fifties, including a then career best 80 not out against Warwickshire at Edgbaston.
He has posted six centuries in the shortest format, including one for England - against Sri Lanka at the 2021 T20 World Cup at Sharjah.
The other five have all come for Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League, including four of them at the 2022 campaign. Unfortunately, the Royals were beaten in the final.
But his displays at the top of their order - he was the leading run-scorer in the competition with 863 from 17 matches - enhanced his reputation as the most fearsome batter in the world against the white ball.
In 2017, he won that competition in the colours of the Mumbai Indians, though international commitments prevented his participation in the final.
Buttler smashed England’s fastest ever ODI century against Pakistan in Dubai off just 46 balls in November 2015 before cracking another century in his next ODI innings - against South Africa in Bloemfontein in early February 2016.
Despite his power and finesse - he has mastered the scoop and ramp shots, be it reverse or conventional.
2018 also began with a bang as he scored an unbeaten ton against Australia, a feat he would repeat on home turf later in the summer in one of the best ODI innings’ of recent times. With England struggling on 114-8 chasing 206 to win the fifth match, Buttler’s astonishing 110 not out led them home with a wicket to spare.
He scored 103 against Pakistan in the 2019 World Cup, a defeat at Trent Bridge, but he went on to score a crucial run-a-ball 59 in the final against New Zealand at Lord’s, also scoring seven in the Super Over as England set an unassailable target of 16.
Buttler has two ODI scores above 150, his best of 162 not out coming against the Netherlands in Amstelveen in June 2022 - his last series before captaincy.
In mid-2024, he will look to defend England’s T20 World Cup title in the Caribbean and USA, no doubt his determination increased by a disappointing group stage exit at the 50-over World Cup in India in late 2023.