LONDON (AP) — Former England captain Michael Vaughan has thrown his weight behind Jos Buttler to lead his team in the limited-overs format, calling him the best white-ball player in the world.
After England white-ball captain Eoin Morgan reportedly retires from international cricket, Vaughan endorsed batsman goalkeeper Buttler for the role in his recent column for The Telegraph.
“For me, it’s a no-brainer for Jos Buttler to take on that role.
He is the best white ball player in the world, he has a very intelligent cricket brain and he has the calm you need,” Vaughan said in his column.
Vaughan also advocated Buttler’s inclusion in the trial squad, as he believed the goalkeeper was a good fit with the aggressive mindset of England’s new regime under head coach Brendon McCullum and skipper Ben Stokes.
“England have this fearless, aggressive nature, and the balls don’t seem to be working as much in the UK as they have in previous seasons. If something as radical as Buttler as Test Opener was ever going to work, it would be now, under this management group of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum,” he concluded.
The 31-year-old known for his aggressive hitting style has a phenomenal record in both T20I and ODI. His powerful 70-ball 162 hit remained pivotal as England broke the highest total in ODI cricket, most recently against the Netherlands.
In total, Buttler scored 4,120 runs in 151 ODIs at an average of 41.20 with 10 centuries and 21 half-centuries. Meanwhile, he appeared in 88 T20Is, scoring 2140 runs at an average of 34.5 with 15 half-centuries and a century to his name.
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