Jos Buttler has not played Test cricket since December 2016
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Jos Buttler has expressed his desire to be included in England’s squad when they travel to Australia for the Ashes in November.
The wicketkeeper-batsman has not played Test cricket since England’s tour of India in November-December 2016 and his place in the side has been filled by Jonny Bairstow, who has been in superb form.
Despite this, the 27-year-old is optimistic that he will make the cut when the Ashes squad is announced.
“I was a child of the 2005 Ashes and I think that is still the best series of cricket ever,” he was quoted as saying by Sky Sports. “Having been part of an Ashes series in 2015, for any English or Australian player you know that’s what it’s all about and the Ashes is still the main thing.
“You want to be involved with England all the time, it’s something incredibly special to be a part of and when you’re not involved you know what you’re missing out on. Everybody’s ambition should be to play for England in all three formats.”
However, Buttler admitted that he has failed to make a strong case for himself in the ongoing County Championship, where he has represented Lancashire in four matches and scored 103 runs at an average of 17.16.
“Whatever format you play in you need to be scoring runs,” he said. “In an ideal world I’d like to be doing that but unfortunately it hasn’t happened for me.
“I have known my own game in one-day cricket for a number of years but in red-ball cricket it is still frustratingly something I’m trying to work out.
“One of the skills of modern cricketers is that you have to be able to cross formats. You can’t use it as an excuse that you haven’t had the time or a run of games. You have to be able to adapt at the switch of a button.”
Should Buttler be overlooked for the Ashes, he revealed that he will most likely opt to play in a domestic Twenty20 competition.
“There is so much cricket going on worldwide now and a lot of exciting cricket you can be a part of,” he added. “There is no point sitting at home worrying about why you don’t get picked or feeling sorry for yourself.
“Cricket is sometimes a win-win situation these days. You’re disappointed to miss out on one tour but there are opportunities elsewhere.”