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Brendon McCullum believes Jos Buttler’s “best years could definitely be ahead of him” as the two begin their partnership in charge of England’s white-ball teams.
McCullum’s tenure as all-format head coach begins this week, with five Twenty20 internationals and three one-day internationals in India followed next month by the Champions Trophy in Pakistan. High on the list of priorities is getting the best out of Buttler. The white-ball captain’s 2023 included a dire title defence of the 50‑over World Cup in India, while his 2024 was disrupted by a calf injury.
“Sometimes when you get that opportunity to lead in the latter part of your career, there’s times where you can be a little bit desperate for success,” McCullum said. “That can create frustration and it doesn’t become quite as enjoyable.
“If you can let yourself go a little bit with nothing to prove other than trying to get the best out of those around you, sometimes it can free your game up even more and you can end up performing really strongly. Those are the conversations Jos and I have had and he’s fully on board with that.”
McCullum remarked last year upon his appointment as white‑ball coach that Buttler had appeared “a bit miserable at times”. A cheering-up process is under way. “He’s smiling, which is good,” McCullum said.
“Jos and I have been friends for a long time and, while we haven’t played together, we’ve often shared similar philosophies on the game and that friendship gives us a really good base to be able to get things going pretty quickly with this team. I’m sure we’ll see Jos over the next couple of years really enjoy himself and hopefully finish with a real strong enjoyment for the game at the back end of his career.”
The 34-year-old will bat at No 3 in the upcoming T20s, beginning on Wednesday at Eden Gardens, and relinquish the gloves this tour. “That’s a really positive thing for us because it gives Jos the opportunity to have the last say with the bowler and to have that relationship build at that last second rather than being 22 yards away,” McCullum said. Phil Salt and Jamie Smith are the other wicketkeeping options in England’s squad.
McCullum, who said he was “desperate for us to play a really watchable brand of cricket”, was asked also about his other captain. Ben Stokes, who is recovering from a hamstring injury sustained against New Zealand in December, will miss the Champions Trophy and has not played a white‑ball match for England since November 2023.
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There are still discussions to have over Stokes’s short-form future. “We’ll have to chat about that,” McCullum said. “You don’t really know how things sit as you move on but we’ll definitely chat about it. He’s a bit frustrated obviously. He got himself back to full fitness, he was playing the role which he’s always wanted to play, being able to bowl long spells and do what he does with the bat, run round the field.
“You can’t safeguard against everything unfolding and we don’t want a vanilla Ben Stokes anyway, we want the maverick that we’ve got, and every now and then some things might go wrong, but that’s what makes him as well.”
