Atherton, Hussain believe Buttler’s time is ‘over as captain’ after Champions Trophy early exit

New Delhi, Feb 27 (IANS) After England’s exit from the ICC Champions Trophy, former captains Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton slammed Jos Buttler’s leadership and opined that his reign as white-ball captain is over.

After suffering an eight-run loss to Afghanistan on Wednesday in Lahore, England crashed out of the Champions Trophy with a game left in Group B. It’s the second straight men’s ODI tournament where they’ve missed out on reaching the top four.

England suffered an eight-run defeat to Afghanistan in Lahore, marking their seventh consecutive ODI loss, extending a disastrous run under Buttler’s captaincy. Buttler took over captaincy from Eoin Morgan in mid-2022.

Speaking on Sky Sports, Atherton did not mince his words, stating that Buttler’s tenure as captain should come to an end. “I think his time is done as captain. England judge themselves on ICC events, and they’ve now had three poor tournaments in a row – the disastrous 50-over World Cup in India, a forgettable T20 World Cup in the Caribbean, and now this.

“Their cricket is way below the standards they set for themselves. Sometimes, you have to admit when it’s not working and make a change. And I think deep down, Buttler probably knows that.”

Hussain echoed similar sentiments, saying that Buttler has not shown the same leadership presence as his predecessor Morgan.

“I’ve never looked at Buttler and thought ‘wow, what a leader.’ He doesn’t have the presence in the field that an Eoin Morgan had. Morgan was England’s greatest-ever white-ball captain, and he was always going to be a hard act to follow.

“Buttler hasn’t added much to this England team as a captain, and it has also affected his batting. When you take away from a great player and don’t gain anything from his leadership, it’s probably time to move on,” said Hussain.

Since Buttler took over England’s white-ball leadership after Morgan’s retirement in 2022, England were knocked out in the group stage of the 2023 ODI World Cup in India, barely scraped into the semifinals of the 2024 T20 World Cup before being knocked out by South Africa, and faced an early exit from the Champions Trophy.

–IANS

hs/