When England begin their final white-ball tour of Antigua on Thursday, they will once again do so without their captain.
Jos Buttler’s troublesome calf has kept him out of action since June, leaving him to watch his team’s rebirth without him.
The latest setback has ruled Buttler out of the three-match ODI series against the West Indies, although it is hoped he will be fit for the five T20s that follow next week.
It is uncomfortable for Buttler, as it deprives him of the chance to set the course before Brendon McCullum arrives as coach in the new year, but it has also raised one question that will continue to plague England in the future.
Should the 34-year-old still try to do it all as captain, wicketkeeper and premier batter or is it time for Buttler to hand over the gloves?
Buttler’s big decision
Buttler has retained all but two white-ball games for England over the past 12 years, but since he was retained and coach Matthew Mott was sacked following this year’s T20 World Cup exit, rumours from the England camp have suggested a change.
Even if Buttler had been fit to play against Australia last month, Phil Salt would have retained Buttler in the T20s, while Jamie Smith was also ready to do so in the ODIs.
“I would give up the gloves and commit to mid-off and see how that feels,” Buttler told Sky Sports.
“If it helps me with my captaincy, then I’m open to it.”
Buttler has been backed to remain captain, but knows he is not on particularly solid ground after two disappointing World Cup exits.
He was determined at the start of the summer.
“I feel like I have the best vision. I can see exactly what’s happening and I can make decisions,” he said in May on whether he would remain a wicketkeeper.
Now, with a mind focused on the need to improve, the mood has changed.
The case for change
The benefits of Buttler giving up the gloves are clear.
With a younger, less experienced side, he will find it easier to talk his bowlers through stressful situations from the outfield than behind the stumps.
In recent years, he has relied heavily on Moeen Ali and Chris Jordan to provide the calming voice in a bowler’s ear, with Buttler himself confined to his wicketkeeping position by the increasingly stringent restrictions on the pace of play.
Moeen has now retired and the 36-year-old Jordan has departed, leaving Buttler as one of the few experienced heads – and he need not look far for an example to follow.
McCullum played most of his career as a wicketkeeper-batter in white-ball cricket, but gave up the gloves in 2013 at the age of 32.
He then played 41 ODIs in three-and-a-half years, including leading the Black Caps to the World Cup final in 2015 – an Indian Summer Buttler, who has not scored a century in 33 white-ball internationals since September 2023, would probably do.
In addition, the England captain’s teenage idol, South African great AB de Villiers, also played a large part of his career as a wicketkeeper, but kept only three of his last 78 games and averaged 65.
When Buttler has not kept, in The Hundred, the Indian Premier League and two T20 internationals, his average since 2021 has also improved, albeit slightly from 38.43 to 42.22.
A refresher could revive the career of an England great.
The case to remain
But if those arguments sound convincing, the reality is less simple.
Yes, the sample size is too small to draw definitive conclusions, but when Buttler captained from the outfield, there was no clear improvement in results – three wins and four losses on his return from seven games for England and Manchester Originals.
“Being a wicketkeeper is a huge advantage in terms of getting tactical information about decision-making,” says Sam Billings, a wicketkeeper who has won the 2021 T20 Blast and the past two Hundreds as captain.
“As a wicketkeeper, you can read the conditions, the field positions and the angles much better than anywhere else on the field.”
There have been few more successful white-ball captains than India’s MS Dhoni, who won the 2011 World Cup and was famous for his adjustments and tactical nose behind the stumps.
“It’s hard to go from being a captain and keeping it your whole career to being a captain who has extra cover all the time,” Billings adds.
“[Former England captain] Eoin Morgan was such a good captain because he always captained from cover and worked on those conversations.”
Of course, there’s no guarantee that less responsibility will improve results.
McCullum’s career might have been extended by giving up the gloves, but his batting average after doing so was just 29.76.
Should he want to stay as a keeper, Buttler could easily point to another of his confidants, Kumar Sangakkara.
The Sri Lankan great kept wicket until the end and ended his illustrious ODI career with four centuries in his last five games.
The stats may well tell Buttler what he wants to hear.
If not Buttler then who?
But if Buttler decides the team would benefit from relinquishing the gloves, it leaves England with intriguing selection decisions, while making the next fortnight in the Caribbean even more important.
In T20s, the solution is clear. Salt, currently ranked third in the world, is a regular wicketkeeper and could take Buttler’s place.
In ODIs, the answer is less straightforward.
Salt struggled against Australia, managing just 95 runs in five innings and raising doubts about his suitability for the longer format.
With Joe Root and possibly Ben Stokes returning in the new year, places in the top six will be scarce.
Smith, who is also absent for this tour due to his Test commitments, remains a mystery.
McCullum raves about the 24-year-old Surrey.
In the first team, after McCullum’s appointment was confirmed, Smith was immediately placed in the XI as a keeper and number five – the role Buttler has made his own.
How Smith fits into a team with Buttler, Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Harry Brook is unclear.
If he bats at six, England will have no significant bowling option in their top order.
England will have to make their final decision in January, when they play India as part of their build-up to the Champions Trophy in February.
Then the can can be put off no longer.