Buttler opens up on England future after poor T20 World Cup campaign
LONDON: Former England captain Jos Buttler has refused to accept that his international career is finished, even after conceding he endured a “poor tournament” at the recently concluded ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 in India and Sri Lanka.
Widely regarded as one of the finest white-ball batsmen of his generation, the 35-year-old managed just 87 runs across eight innings as England reached the semi-finals before losing to the eventual champions, India, on home soil.
Speaking on his ‘For the Love of Cricket’ podcast alongside former England fast bowler Stuart Broad, Buttler addressed his form and his future. ‘
The wicketkeeper-batsman, who remains on an England and Wales Cricket Board central contract, admitted the campaign had fallen short of expectations. “Obviously I had a poor tournament, which is disappointing,” Buttler, who remains on an England and Wales central contract, said on his ‘For the Love of Cricket’ podcast with former England fast bowler Stuart Broad.
Buttler stepped down as England’s white-ball captain following the team’s early exit from the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy.
While his future in the side is now subject to selection, he made clear his desire to continue playing for England.
“But I have been playing some of the best cricket of my (career) in recent years, so hopefully I can get back to playing my best.
“I certainly have ambitions (to play for England again), but no longer being a captain, I am not a selector and whatever, so what will be, will be.”
Buttler is set to feature for the Gujarat Titans in the upcoming Indian Premier League. He hopes that time spent away from the game, including a family trip to the French mountains after the World Cup, will leave him feeling reinvigorated.
“I couldn’t have been further away from cricket, which for me at the time was just perfect,” said Buttler. “It is exactly what I needed.”
“Obviously the tournament didn’t go personally how I would have liked it to go, and I just felt like I needed some space from cricket and not to think about the game, and I could not have been further away from cricket where I was in that week.”
A key member of England’s 2019 ODI World Cup-winning team and the captain who led the side to T20 World Cup glory in Australia three years later, Buttler said he is only now beginning to process his performance.
“It was really refreshing –- I really enjoyed it, a complete sort of release, and slowly but surely, I would say at the start of this week, (I am) just starting to reflect a bit and have a few thoughts about what is important to me and my cricket, and why it probably didn’t go quite as I would’ve liked.
“There’s elements that I actually don’t really know exactly. For all your best intentions and hard work and efforts to perform, it just didn’t work, and sometimes that is OK as well. “That is something I have had to realise. It wasn’t for a lack of effort, it just didn’t quite happen,” he concluded. Web Desk
