Is it time for England to drop Jos Buttler from Test team?

Jos Buttler has struggled to get going in the 2021-22 Ashes series against Australia. The wicketkeeper batter has scored just 96 runs in seven innings and has scored his runs at a poor average of just 16.00. He has also returned home owing to a finger injury. However, his poor form with the bat raises a pertinent question. Is it time for the England side to pull the plug on Jos Buttler?

Now, before proceeding further, let us take a look at Buttler’s record with the willow in 2021 in Test match cricket. The table below will illustrate the same.

In the whole of 2021, Buttler played 16 innings and scored just 353 runs. He averaged a meagre 25.21, and could also score just a single half-century. Also, the right-handed batter scored a duck in the first innings of the New Year’s Test match at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) as well. Buttler has not scored a half-century in his last 16 innings in Test cricket, and his poor returns do not augur well for him as well as for England.

Well, in terms of the replacement for Buttler as a wicketkeeper batter, England have many options. There is Jonny Bairstow, who scored a superb century in the 4th Test match at the Sydney Cricket Ground who can also don the wicketkeeping gloves in Buttler’s absence.

There is the young Ollie Pope, who is only 24 years old and has already shown a lot of promise in his Test career that has spanned 22 Test matches.

For now, Buttler will anyways not be picked in England playing XI for the final Ashes Test match as he has broken his finger and is ruled out, but even after he recovers from his injury, a place in the starting XI might not be guaranteed.