'End of road' as England white-ball captain Jos Buttler resigns

Jos Buttler said on Friday he is to step down as England's white-ball captain after a disastrous Champions Trophy campaign ended with them failing to reach the semi-finals.

"I'm going to stand down as England captain, it's the right decision for me and the team," the 34-year-old said at a press conference.

"And hopefully somebody else can come in and work closely alongside (Brendon McCullum) to take the team back to where it needs to be."

Buttler said: "It was quite clear that this tournament was going to be important results-wise for my captaincy" and felt he had "reached the end of the road."

England have lost 15 of their last 21 one-day internationals.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said Buttler "will continue to make himself available for selection" as a player.

Buttler will lead England for the last time in their final group match against South Africa in Karachi on Saturday.

England failed to retain either their T20 and 50-over World Cup titles under Buttler's captaincy.

The team lost their first two matches and the defeat by Afghanistan in Lahore on Wednesday ended their hopes of reaching the knockout stages of the 50-over tournament.

Chasing 326 for victory, England came up just short despite Joe Root's valiant 120 and fell to 317 all out.

The opening defeat was against Ashes rivals Australia after England failed to defend 351 following a batting onslaught by Josh Inglis, who hit an unbeaten 120.

Buttler has been unable to replicate England's success as captain of the white-ball team since he led them to a T20 World Cup title in 2022 shortly after taking over from Eoin Morgan.

England won only three of their nine matches as defending champions at the 50-over World Cup in India in 2023.

The team exited in the semi-final of last year's T20 World Cup and recently suffered a 3-0 ODI whitewash in India ahead of the Champions Trophy.

'All-time great'

The India series was coach McCullum's first white-ball assignment after enjoying success in the Test role with captain Ben Stokes.

"With Brendon coming in only recently, I was really excited to work closely alongside him and hope for a very quick turnaround and take the team forward," said Buttler. "But it's not worked out that way. It feels like it's the right time for me and also for the team to have a change."

Buttler has led England in 44 ODIs, with a record of 18 wins, 25 defeats and one no result.

In T20 internationals he captained the team to 26 wins, 22 defeats and three no results in his 51 matches in charge.

Buttler said it has been "an immense honour to captain your country".

McCullum said: "I feel incredibly sad for Jos. We've all seen over the last couple of years how much he has invested in captaining his country and trying 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.

"He's done a significant job, often without his best players available, so it is incredibly unselfish from Jos to step aside and to leave the post to someone else."

McCullum said going ahead the team will look to get the best out of their Buttler — a "huge player."

Richard Gould, chief executive of ECB, said: "Jos is one of cricket's all-time great white-ball players."

Buttler has played 320 ODI and T20 matches for England, scoring 8,710 runs including 12 centuries.

Agence France-Presse