Jos Buttler made one unsuccessful first-class appearance for Lancashire last season © Getty Images
Mark Ramprakash has warned against expecting too much of Jos Buttler if he is selected for the third Test against India.
While Ramprakash, the England batting coach, rated Buttler as one of the “top five batsmen in the world in one-day cricket,” he accepted that his lack of red-ball experience could compromise his chances of success.
Buttler is expected to replace Ben Duckett in the England side for the Test starting in Mohali on Saturday. But, if he does play, it will be just his second first-class game since he was dropped from the Test team in October 2015. He hasn’t scored a first-class half-century since May 2015 and a first-class century since June 2014.
Rampakash accepts that the situation “isn’t ideal” but, with Gary Ballance having been dropped having averaged six in the Bangladesh series and having only passed 15 once in seven Test innings, England are not flush with options. Buttler is highly regarded in the England set-up not just for his talent, but his leadership qualities; he captained the England ODI side in Bangladesh.
But while Trevor Bayliss, the England coach, has expressed a hope that Buttler will take the same positive approach he uses in white-ball cricket to Test cricket, Ramprakash fears that conditions in international limited-overs cricket – in particular the nature of pitches and the ball – are not reflective of the challenges likely to face Buttler in Tests. Batsmen in Test cricket are also far more likely to face a sustained challenge from the short ball.
“To me, Jos Buttler is in the top five batsmen in the world in one-day cricket,” Ramprakash said. “And that almost creates a problem with the amount of first-class cricket he can play. So, if Jos gets the nod we need to be understanding of that. He clearly has so much ability but through lack of opportunity it’s been hard for him to develop and I hope that people realise that and don’t set expectations too high because that’s the situation he’s in and we have to live with that.
“In the white-ball game you’re playing on flat wickets against a ball that doesn’t move. So you can be very instinctive; you can see it early and go for your shots. We’ve seen James Vince and Alex Hales in one-day cricket, but when it’s come to the red ball in England it’s moved around and they’ve found it challenging and Jos would be similar to that.”
To help Buttler prepare, Ramprakash has been setting him challenges in the nets, but he admits it is no substitute for playing in matches.
“We’ve tried to set little scenarios for him every now and then,” Ramprakash said. “So at Rajkot there was a 10-over challenge in the nets with Jake Ball and Gareth Batty. Ball would bowl an over, then Batty and we would try to set fields, so he could have more of a match feel to practice rather than just netting. Within that 60-ball challenge Jos could try to put himself into the mindset of playing in a Test match.
“He’s thrown himself into his physical training. Everything he’s done has been like an elite athlete. His practice in the nets, his work on his wicket-keeping: he’s been a real leader in the group and I can’t speak highly enough of his attitude.
Ramprakash was well versed in Buttler’s record: only once past 30 in his last 12 England innings, a record stretching back to the New Zealand Test at Headingley last year, and only one first-class game for Lancashire last season. He was open about the issues that brings.
“It’s not ideal. As much as we can net and do middle situations in practice, he hasn’t been tested in a match. And that’s where I think that if Jos gets the nod, we have to be understanding of that.”
England also face a challenge of where to bat Buttler should he be selected. Duckett was coming in at No. 4, but England may be reluctant to expose Buttler that high up the order. The other options are Ben Stokes, who has emerged as one of England’s most assured batsmen, Jonny Bairstow, who has scored more Test runs than anyone in the world this year, and Moeen Ali, who has batted everywhere but No. 3 and No. 4 in the top nine.
None of the options are perfect. All three of Stokes, Bairstow and Moeen already have a heavy workload, mentally as much as physically, and England will be keen not to ask too much of them. Stokes notably struggled with cramp in Rajkot.
“There’s no easy answer to that,” Ramprakash conceded. “It’s a really good question. You’ve players who have just made Test hundreds, like Mo and Stokesy, so do you leave them where they are because you want no disruption? Stokes would be a candidate, yes, but his physical workload throughout the Tests has given him a bit of an issue hasn’t it?”
Ultimately though, Ramprakash believes that picking another right-hander in Buttler may prove advantageous in conditions in which left-handers “have it tough.”
“As the game wears on in this part of the world, you get more rough outside the left-hander’s off stump,” Ramprakash said. “So left-handers have it tough both ways. The offspinners are at them with the DRS, but as the game goes on you’ve got a lot of rough for the left-arm spinner to chuck the ball in as well and that makes it quite tough.
“Gary Ballance is a fine player and I think we’ll see him again in an England shirt. He’s a batsman who if he gets in he doesn’t give it away, but obviously he’s found life tough and Bangladesh was obviously very tough. I think tactically in this part of the world if another right-hander comes in that may be a slight advantage.”
The England squad took the day off on Wednesday, but return to the nets on Thursday morning when they will gain their first look at the Mohali surface. With Buttler set to replace Duckett, it also seems highly likely that Chris Woakes will replace the injured Stuart Broad.
Meanwhile, the England camp have made it clear they want no part in allegations of ball tampering made against Virat Kohli by one British newspaper.
George Dobell is a senior correspondent at ESPNcricinfo
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo