Jos Buttler as England's Test opener - so absurd and crazy that it makes sense
Imagine you are Jos Buttler. Just a month ago, you have set the IPL alight. You have broken numerous records and have cast yourself as arguably the best T20 batter on the planet. Then, you travel to Amsterdam to face a Netherlands side looking to gain confidence by playing against a full member nation.
Rather than coaxing them and telling how they are destined for better things, you hand out a harsh reality check. A 70-ball 162* en route a mammoth ODI total of 498. It has strokes all around the park. The wristy flicks over long on, the clear-your-front-leg and hit it as far as possible, the sumptuous off-side strokes. You end that series with another unbeaten knock – this time, helping England chase down a middling total with consummate ease.
A few thousand miles away, England, often ridiculed for their Test fortunes in 2021 and 2022, are playing Test cricket as if it were a white-ball game. Ben Stokes is dancing down the track to fast bowlers. Jonny Bairstow is pummelling whatever comes his way. Zak Crawley is driving as if there is no tomorrow. Ollie Pope is doing his best Ian Bell impersonation. Even Joe Root is playing reverse scoops to pacers, for goodness' sake.
Till a couple of months ago, you would’ve been termed a fool and non-cricket watcher had you suggested that England’s Test cricket would feel more exhilarating than its white-ball counterpart. Not just because they are perhaps the best ODI and T20I outfit on the planet, but also because they haven’t really put together Test performances to remember since the start of 2021.
But this era of English Test cricket is different. With Stokes at the helm and Brendon McCullum calling the shots in the dressing room, there is a new sense of purpose about England – a new verve where calculation gives way to something more cavalier. A period where efficiency can be side-lined for extravagance, and an era where the manner of the win – the panache and the style quotient, is a tad more important than the result itself.
Fun day in Amsterdam! Congrats @dmalan29 on a special achievement and @PhilSalt1 on the first of many! 💯 https://t.co/v76desX2oq
Anyone who has watched any kind of cricket, and has witnessed Buttler in the flesh, would argue that this is tailor-made for him. This isn’t the stage to be timid and to walk in trepidation at what might lie ahead. It’s the time to throw caution to the wind, let your hair down, treat red-ball cricket like any other ODI and be the crowning jewel in England’s new all-or-nothing Test philosophy.
The only spin to this story, though, is that Buttler is not a part of England’s current Test squad. While this exclusion might’ve come on the back of a gruelling IPL season, the presence of Bairstow – a cricketer who almost played the entirety of the IPL, indicates that Buttler’s omission was on merit, rather than availability.
This isn’t the first time he has been left out of England’s Test squad this year. When the Three Lions toured the Caribbean, Buttler relinquished the gloves to Ben Foakes. With the latter not putting a foot wrong and looking accomplished behind the stumps, many felt that Buttler had run his race in the longest format.
Can Jos Buttler feature as an opener in Test cricket for England?
Well, that’s if you consider him to only be a wicket-keeper batter and someone who can man the lower order and bat with tailenders. What if Buttler, who regularly opens in T20s and is used as a floater in ODIs, is unleashed at the top of the order? It sounds crazy. It almost throws every bit of cricketing logic and wisdom out of the window. It might even be something Buttler is not comfortable with. But hey, why not?
This argument, by the way, isn’t just going to revolve around how England’s openers have flattered to deceive during another series. It has become too constant a trend for anyone to be surprised by it. But the regularity has certainly made people question if Alex Lees and Crawley are cut out for the job.
Not just because Crawley can’t seem to buy a run and because he drives more than anyone frequently traversing from Cambridge to London. Or, because Lees moves around his crease so often that he forgets where his stumps are. But because Buttler, if he finds his mojo at the top, would be just what England needs vis-à-vis their new batting approach.
For long, it has been debated whether the wicket-keeper has the requisite technique to handle a new-ball onslaught. You might answer in the negative at first. But when considering he has tackled the second new-ball previously, there is some sort of precedent Buttler can draw inspiration from.
Moreover, England’s current openers haven’t really covered themselves in glory. Before the 2nd innings at Headingley, Crawley was averaging under 20 in Test cricket since the start of 2021 and below 10 in the ongoing series. Lees, despite showing the gumption for a fight, has one half-century in 10 Test innings, and averages a tick under 36 in First-Class cricket throughout his career. England’s openers, since the start of 2021, only average 22.33. Period.
So, bluntly speaking, things can’t get any worse for England. They’ve been down this road once, mind you. During the 2019 Ashes, they trialled Jason Roy – another one of their white-ball gems, as an opener, only to see him crash and burn miserably. There’s no guarantee that things will be different for Buttler.
It's just that Buttler is in the form of his life. He is perhaps seeing the ball as big as a beach ball. And England, with this firebrand approach, are crying out for someone like him at the top of the order to take down bowling attacks. Kumar Sangakkara, who has seen the wicket-keeper from close quarters, has batted for it too, suggesting the Rajasthan Royals batter could do something similar to what Matthew Hayden and Virender Sehwag did throughout their career.
Again, nothing is a given. Buttler’s overall Test career, considering the talent he has, has been a bit of a dampener. But hey, even someone like Rohit Sharma struggled to stamp his authority in Test cricket until being promoted to open.
Special feeling wearing white at @HomeOfCricket with special player @josbuttler ❤️❤️ https://t.co/NbHcjvkAI4
With everything that is going on in England’s Test landscape, it would be a travesty if one of their most gifted white-ball strikers can’t land a gig in some capacity when the national team is trying to bridge the gap between T20I, ODI and Test cricket.
In many ways, this is the sort of approach Buttler is cut out for. This is the type of philosophy that should, in an ideal world, be centred around him. It may materialise that way. Or it may fall flat on its face. But until England try him out, no one will ever know.
England have fiddled an awful lot in the past couple of years. Some of those changes and jargon have been tough for even their staunchest supporters to justify. But Buttler is a generational talent – a talent pleading for an opportunity in what could become his preferred habitat.
Jos Buttler - England’s new Test opener then? Why not?