KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — Jos Buttler resigned as England white-ball captain on Friday after his team made an early exit from the Champions Trophy with back-to-back defeats against Australia and Afghanistan.
“It’s the right decision for me and the right decision for the team," Buttler said. "Hopefully somebody else who can come in alongside Baz (coach Brendon McCullum) will take the team to where it needs to be.”
England lost two high-scoring games in Lahore and conceded the tournament’s highest-ever chase of 352 against Australia. Buttler said he will lead England for the final time against South Africa in the last group match at Karachi.
England had a disastrous preparation for the Champions Trophy when it won only one of its eight white-ball matches against India before arriving in Pakistan.
“The overriding emotions are still sadness and disappointment,” Buttler said while expressing his willingness to continue represent England as a player. “I’m sure, in time, that (disappointment) will pass and I can get back to really enjoying my cricket, and (will) also be able to reflect on what an immense honor it is to captain your country and all the special things that come with it.”
Buttler replaced Eoin Morgan as England’s white-ball captain in 2022 and only months later won the T20 World Cup in Australia. However, there was a sharp decline in England’s white-ball cricket with three unimpressive runs at the 2023 World Cup in India, 2024 T20 World Cup in the U.S. and the West Indies and now the Champions Trophy.
England lost six of nine games at the 50-over World Cup in India before getting eliminated from the tournament. England has a poor ODI record losing 18 of its last 25 ODIs, including the two defeats in the Champions Trophy.
“It was quite clear that this tournament was going to be important: results-wise and for my captaincy,” Buttler said. “Two losses and being out of the tournament (was) a bit of a hangover of tournaments before. I’d just reached the end of the road for me and my captaincy, which is a shame and I’m sad about that.
“With Brendon coming in only recently, I was really excited to work closely alongside him and hope for a very quick turnaround and to take the team forward. But it’s not quite worked out that way, so just feels like the right time for me and the team to have a change.”
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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
The Associated Press
