Jos Buttler Resigns as England’s White-ball Captain

Jos Buttler has chosen to step down from the England white-ball captaincy shortly after the team’s completion of the ongoing Champions Trophy 2025. The 34-year-old made the announcement in Karachi ahead of the team’s final league match against South Africa. For the Latest Cricket Update; Click Here

“It is the right decision for me, it is the right decision for the team, and there is hope that some other person who can slot seamlessly will be able to work together with Baz (Brendon McCullum) and drive the team back to where it has to be,” Buttler said during a press conference on Friday (February 28).

SAvENG / South Africa primed to add to England’s misery

Buttler accepted the decision had to be made owing to the fact that the team was knocked out early in the Champions Trophy after dropping two consecutive games against Australia and Afghanistan in Lahore. The former World Champions had already been on a miserable ODI form heading into this tournament after being whitewashed 0-3 by India a week before the tournament in Pakistan and the UAE.

“It’s pretty clear that this tournament was crucial on a result basis for my captaincy. Obviously, with two losses and being out of the tournament with a bit of a hangover from some tournaments before, I think has left me at the end of the road for me and my captaincy, which is a shame,” as cited by Buttler.

“I believe that the dominant feelings at the moment are sadness and disappointment, but I am fairly certain that in time those feelings will begin to fade, so I can look back and appreciate how outstanding it is to captain your country and all the privileges that come along with that, and also truly enjoy my cricket.”

England Cricket Captain Jos Buttler took charge of the English white ball teams after Eoin Morgan’s retirement in 2022, and straight away won the T20 World Cup in Australia. However, the results in both formats plummeted after that, with England being eliminated in the group stages of the 2023 ODI World Cup, and then losing in the semifinal while defending their T20 crown against India in Guyana.

As the results worsened, the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) decided to assign Brendon McCullum, already in charge of the Test side, as a coach for the white ball teams starting in 2025. However, McCullum’s partnership with Buttler yielded no immediate results as England won only one of nine white ball matches played this year.

All in all, Buttler led England in 44 ODIs and 51 T20Is, winning 18 and 26 matches respectively. He has the second worst win to loss ratio in ODIs for England captains with at least 15 matches led.
Buttler said, “I’m disappointed about that and with Brendon coming in only recently, I was looking forward to pairing up with him, hoping to achieve a very rapid shift and advance the team, but it has not quite been the case. It just feels like it’s the right time for me and the team to change.”

McCullum, like Butler, shed some tears: ‘We all, over the last couple of years, have invested in the efforts Jos has made to get the very best out of those guys around him.’

“People forget he won the World Cup a couple of years ago and that can never be taken away from him. It is incredibly unselfish from Jos to step aside and leave the post to someone else, while he has done a significant job often without his best players available.”

“I’m positive we will look at ways to get the best out of him so he has maximum impact as well. He is still a huge player for us moving forward,” McCullum believed.