London: England wicketkeeper Jos Buttler is adamant he can prove his worth in the Test arena after struggling to emulate his one-day success. Buttler has endured a torrid time in Test cricket for England recently, managing a top score of just 43 in five matches against New Zealand and South Africa.
The 29-year-old was still named in the England squad for the forthcoming tour of Sri Lanka and insists he can transfer his explosive limited-overs skill-set to the longer form of the game. Virat Kohli, Faf Du Plessis and David Warner are among the current batsmen who thrive with the red or white ball and Buttler, who helped England win the World Cup last year, wants to join them.
“There’s a crop of guys who are the best in the world, and they’re the best across all formats. They manage to do it,” Buttler said on Monday. “You need to find breaks in your schedule – your mind is your biggest asset so you need to have time to get that to the best place when you turn up. That’s a big skill. But the best players can play all formats. You want to play all the games, be
involved in all the formats. I certainly do. Some people are naturally suited to one or the other, but I think you can do it.”
Buttler will be hoping his return to form in the Twenty20 series finale against South Africa carries over into next month’s two Tests. The Lancashire batsman, who will play in the IPL for Rajasthan Royals this season, hit 57 off 29 balls in the five-wicket win in Centurion as England secured a 2-1 series victory.
Now he wants to repay the England selectors’ faith. “You’ve always got to be positive. Obviously, I haven’t played as well as I’d have liked in the majority of the winter, but you don’t become a bad player overnight so I’m looking to repay some faith and get back to playing my best cricket,” he said. “I just haven’t played quite well enough at times. I have made too many mistakes really. When you’re playing well you feel like you make the right decisions a lot of the time. You feel in a very good head space. I just feel like I haven’t been able do that often enough.”