Despite his defiant innings in Adelaide, England keeper Jos Buttler should be dropped for the third Test in Melbourne.
Here’s why.
Buttler’s keeping has simply not been up to scratch so far in this series, dropping a couple of regulation catches at key points during the second Test.
His two dropped efforts off Marnus Labuschagne, when the eccentric Queenslander was well established, looked like something you’d see in the lower reaches of sub-district cricket in Brisbane rather than that of a Test wicketkeeper.
He partially made up for this later in the Test by taking a couple of screamers, leaving a rather confusing overall display of his abilities.
Buttler has a fearsome reputation with the bat for England in limited-overs cricket, where essential wicketkeeping skills are not as important.
(Photo by Michael Steele-ICC/ICC via Getty Images)
However, attempts to translate these coloured-clothing blitzes into the Cinch-sponsored whites of the English Test side have only been partially more successful than Australia’s ill-fated attempt to turn Mitch Marsh into a Test all-rounder.
There have been moments of glory, like his recall in the 2018 home series against India, where he played a pivotal role with the bat in a 3-1 series win.
A career-high score in a record partnership of 359 with the now-discarded Zak Crawley in Southampton in 2020 helped grind a young Pakistan bowling attack into the turf.
Since that time though, Buttler has not passed 55 in a Test, and the English media are starting to ask questions.
Ian Chappell, a commentator who has been roundly critical of English captain Joe Root and coach Chris Silverwood’s tactics and selections this series, believes that the best man for the job of wicketkeeper is currently on the sidelines.
Current England Lions keeper Ben Foakes is a man who has been described by his county coach Alec Stewart as “the best keeper in the world”.
I watched Foakes play at the Ian Healy Oval in Brisbane last week.
He is very tidy with the gloves, and has a solid defensive technique with the bat, with which he played the Australian A quicks very competently to 73 before rather unfortunately letting his guard down against part-time bowler Matt Renshaw.
(Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)
His Test average of 31 is only a couple of runs short of compatriots Jonny Bairstow and Buttler, and he has a Test century to his name.
Some may say that dropping a player such as Buttler after such a fine stonewalling effort would be harsh, and it is definitely a line-ball decision.
But the same could be said of the end to the career of Australian keeper Peter Nevill, who played a fine unbeaten knock of 60 off 153 balls to save a Test against South Africa before being dropped two Tests later.
It can be very hard to compare keepers using statistics, but one rough measure might be stumpings.
Buttler has just three in his first-class career for England, Lancashire and Somerset. Foakes has 29 for Surrey and England. Bairstow has 24 over a longer career for England and Yorkshire.
What do you think, Roarers? Are there any other changes you would make if you were an English selector?
Madhumita Gupta
Guest
Buttler is still one of the 6 best batters in this team .. he has a belligerent character.. he could have easily dumped test and be remembered as a white ball legend but he really cares and is determined to come good in the long format .. there’s no point in discussing what would have happened if he got caught on a pair ( on his way to be no. 1 test batter Marnus has been dropped 14 times & caught only 12! So luck also plays a role in what you do) .. point is he still had guts to fight even after all the drops and when the whole world is after his head .. I can’t see a gutsier character in that dressing room except Stokes.. he averages 47 from #6 and overall average is 7 more when not keeping .. he would be just fine batting at 6 without the worry of keeping.. Silverwood/Root needs to understand that
Ruairidh MacDonald
Roar Rookie
all good! i thought i’d missed someone
Paul
Roar Guru
"This lot are not their future." Great comment and your absolutely right.
Englishbob
Guest
Majeed is my pal who is was texting shortly before I penned the comment, that combined with my sleep deprived brain led to that typo, my bad.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
Auto correct. No idea. Maybe Samsung's predictive texting programme has unearthed a star.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
Majeed is that 16yo scoring hundreds and taking 5 for. Nah. Buttler is at his peak when he gets a 35. The point is, the rest struggle to get to 30. This lot are not their future.
Derek Murray
Roar Rookie
He was in Australia with the Lions. He returned home some time ago
Ruairidh MacDonald
Roar Rookie
Who on earth is Majeed?
English twizz
Guest
He is in Australia with the lions
Chanon
Roar Rookie
Dave he will be playing test cricket next year that’s what the selectors have told him, just stay in form churn out tons in T20 & your in :silly: :thumbup:
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
Just tuned in to BBL to hear Maxwell in commentary saying he’d love to play Tests again, but doesn’t think he has to prove himself in Shield cricket, runs in any format should do. Talk about delusional.
Paul
Roar Guru
There's no way Buttler's a better Test bat than Hameed, Don (no idea who Majeed is?). One bloke can bat at Test level, the other can't keep at that level.
U
Roar Rookie
Good point. I’m not saying Maxwell might’ve been great in tests but to never get a home test is a crime. He scored a ton in India when few have done that recently for Australia. His bowling is very handy and he can swing matches with his fielding. Compared to some of the other middle order plays they’ve tried in recent years, he’s much better.
Patrick
Roar Pro
Yeah that is interesting. Similarly, I saw a stat recently on this site about Mitchell Starc starting series well, and ending them poorly. I wonder if statistically, Test series become more weighted towards the bat from the third Test onwards, as bowlers tire, and batting lineups become more familiar with conditions and opponents.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
In that team, Buttler is a better batsman than Majeed, Bairstow, Foakes and probably Crawley…and Buttler’s not much chop. I suspect England might need to look at all the cricketers in England. There might be one or two social media, let alone the
selectorsselector has seen.Don Freo
Roar Rookie
A gaggle of past captains want him to go back to opening for Qld. You heard that from me first...3 months ago. What is the collective noun for captains? A ship of captains? A parliament? A keg? Just for Rowdy and his astrology, a galaxy of captains...
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
Hi Tempo, do you know of a source somewhere for catch completion rates?
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
Yes, if they’d taken that catch off Buttler, he would have been called spineless and precipitating a collapse or similar.
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
An interesting stat in Buttler’s career is that he has good averages from the Third Test of a series onwards, but his numbers are low for First and Second Tests in a series. Obviously slow to get going as a rule.
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
It’s hard to understand why they have doubts over Foakes’s batting. With a fairly similar batting record to Buttler, including 11 first class centuries, I would have thought the difference in keeping should be key. The crucial stats would be how many chances are missed, plus screamers taken, but these stats aren’t readily available. But different stumping numbers are telling. However, it’s all academic as I believe the England Lions party including Foakes have gone home.