"He has been a little bit miserable at times" - Brendon McCullum hopes to make Jos Buttler-led England team enjoy white-ball cricket again
England's newly-appointed white-ball coach Brendon McCullum has thrown his weight behind Jos Buttler after twin World Cup failures. The 42-year-old declared that the keeper-batter will go down as England's greatest white-ball cricketer even if he were to retire today.
Buttler, who succeeded Eoin Morgan as the white-ball captain in 2022, found instant success as he led England to a T20 World Cup win that year. However, the Lancashire cricketer has endured back-to-back poor campaigns in the 2023 ODI and the 2024 T20 World Cup. He is still likely to remain captain for some time now though.
At the presser ahead of the third Test against Sri Lanka, McCullum said that Buttler has looked quite tensed on the field off late. He wants to lessen the burden on him as he said via Sky Sports:
"I am very confident in Buttler as captain. What I want from Jos is for him to enjoy the next few years. If he retired tomorrow he would probably go down as the greatest white-ball player England have produced so there is chance for however long he plays to not protect anything and play with a smile on his face."
"My job is to push him towards that. He has been a little bit miserable at times, he is not naturally as expressive as some, but he has done a great job. My job is to get the best out of him so players in the dressing room feel bulletproof and 10-feet tall and know the skipper is going to give them that extra pat on the back and enjoy the ride with them."
The 33-year-old will be unavailable for the upcoming T20I series against Australia due to a calf injury. His availability for the subsequent ODI series is also in doubt.
"I'm assuming he's all in" - Brendon McCullum weighs in on Ben Stokes' white-ball future
Ben Stokes recently expressed uncertainty about his white-ball future during an interview with The Telegraph. However, McCullum said he expects the all-rounder to be available for the 'big stages'. He said, as quoted by BBC:
"He's been incredible and our relationship is fantastic. You never know where the game's going globally and what sort of opportunities will pop up for him, but I know how invested he is in English cricket and how determined he is to drive this team forward.
"The skipper and I haven’t spoken, but I'm assuming he's all in. He seems like that sort of bloke. I guess we'll see where he sits. He loves big moments and big stages"
The former New Zealand captain is likely to start his tenure as the white-ball coach only next year.