England coach Brendon McCullum has praised Jos Buttler as he prepares to lead the national team for the final time on Saturday. McCullum commended the keeper-batter’s selflessness and emphasized that he continues to be a key player for the team.
After England’s group-stage exit in the 2025 Champions Trophy, Buttler will step down as white-ball captain, ending his tenure with a match against South Africa on Saturday. Despite winning the 2022 T20 World Cup, England has struggled in the next three ICC tournaments. McCullum hopes to continue getting the best from Buttler.
“He’s done a significant job, often without the best players available and often around different structures as well. It’s incredibly selfless from Jos to step aside and leave the post for someone else. He’s still a huge player for us moving forward, I’m sure we will look at ways to get the best out of him so he can have maximum impact.”
Brendon McCullum expressed his support for the Lancashire cricketer, stating that he doesn’t deserve the level of criticism he has received, especially given his achievements as a World Cup-winning captain.
“Jos will have his final game as captain tomorrow. The boys will hopefully put on a good show to send him off from his captaincy journey.”
“I feel incredibly sad for Jos, we’ve all seen over the last couple of years how much he’s invested in captaining his country and trying to get the very best out of those guys. People forget he won a World Cup only a couple of years ago, that can never be taken away from him.”
McCullum highlights strong Candidates for England’s next white-ball captain
Speaking about Jos Buttler‘s successor, the former New Zealand captain stated that they must first assess the situation. He mentioned that he would consult with the board before making a decision, adding:
“We’ve got some time to think about that. For us, the news is less than 24 hours old so it’s pretty fresh. We’ve got a bit of time when we get home before we need to make those decisions.”
“Rob Key, myself and the team at the ECB will sit down and work out exactly what that looks like and who that person will be – and what help they need to get our results back to the level that we know they should be at. There’s some really good personnel around us, some excellent thinkers of the game, very strong leaders.”
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