England need to make final decision on Jos Buttler, says Sir Alastair Cook

New Delhi, Nov 8 (IANS) Former Test skipper Sir Alastair Cook said England needs to make a final decision on what role Jos Buttler will play in the white-ball sides in future. Buttler was out of action after the T20 World Cup semi-final loss to India due to a calf injury.

Buttler will take up captaincy duties ahead of the five-match T20I series against the West Indies, with Phil Salt to don the keeping gloves and Essex wicketkeeper-batter Michael Pepper added to the touring squad after being in England’s 2-1 series defeat in the Caribbean.

“We know in the T20 series in the West Indies he’s not keeping – whether that’s injury-related, he’s obviously coming back from his calf injury, or it’s a tactical thing. I think they’re going to see how this goes and then they’ll make the final decision.”

“But they need to make it, because what he does, whether he bats at the top of the order or bats in the middle order, is a big influence on how you set the side up, and whether he’s keeping or not.”

“The best thing for me is a) he’s coming back from his injury and b) he’s signed a two-year central contract which means England’s greatest white-ball player is keen to go again, he’s not just going to go off to the franchise world, he wants to play for England and he wants to lead England again,” said Cook to TNT Sports.

He also talked about the young England players he expects to make a breakthrough in the T20I leg of the Caribbean tour. “I’m looking at the batting line-up, Phil Salt, Will Jacks, Jacob Bethell, Jordan Cox, Liam Livingstone – Livingstone’s slightly older – but all those guys, they are the modern player.”

“They are brought up on T20 cricket, they are brought up on the white ball, they can play all the shots. So all the talent’s there, it’s just now about getting the experience in them, and (it’s) the ones who then end up slightly better than the other ones. The ones who take that step, who feel as if international cricket suits them slightly better than other ones.”

“We’ve all seen that in the past, the players who after a year in the game, someone will jump up, get a score, feel confident, get more scores, and then suddenly he feels happier in international cricket, and that releases his talent. We’re kind of waiting for that player.”

“All of them are on that level, all produce good performances, maybe not quite as consistent, which is understandable because they’re young players, but we’re kind of waiting for the jump-up to the next bracket. I can’t predict it, they’re all so even, it will be interesting to see which ones does it.”

Cook signed off by expressing happiness over Jofra Archer playing all three ODIs against the West Indies in a year where he’s been carefully managed after a big layoff due to injuries. “What’s great for me with Jofra is the fact he’s played these three one-day games in a row, in a fairly short space of time, which means physically he must be in a pretty good spot. In the summer he was coming back, playing one, having a rest, playing another, having a rest.”

“Here he’s managed to play all three. He definitely adds strength to the English bowling side, he can bowl in all three aspects of the game, up front, powerplays, and at the death as well. There are not many of the bowlers who you can say are a dead cert to be in the first-choice line-up. I think he’s the leading seamer if fit, and he seems to have managed to get a run of games, which is great.”

–IANS

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