England’s white-ball captain Jos Buttler is doubtful for his side’s upcoming home T20I series against Australia, scheduled to commence on September 11.
According to a report by ESPNCricinfo, Buttler suffered a setback on his road to recovery from a calf injury and was consequently ruled out of the T20 Blast quarter-final between Lancashire and Sussex on September 4.
The England captain has been away from professional cricket since England’s defeat in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 semi-final against eventual champions India.
He sustained a calf injury in July amid his preparations for The Hundred 2024 and had been gearing up to make his long-awaited return at T20 Blast quarter-final.
Lancashire coach Dale Benkenstein confirmed Jos Buttler’s unavailability to BBC Radio Lancashire.
“We’ve had some bad news on his recovery,” Benkenstein said.
“He had an injury he was recovering from, and he’s sort of tweaked it again. He’s not only just out of our T20s, but I think he’s even struggling to make the international ones. He was very keen to play for us.”
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Details further suggested that England are not overly concerned about their white-ball captain’s fitness ahead of the series opener and are hopeful that Buttler would be able to lead in all eight white-ball fixtures against Australia.
England’s T20I squad is set to report to the Utilita Bowl on Sunday ahead of a two-day training camp and that is when England and Wales Cricket Board’s (ECB) medical panel is likely to assess Buttler’s condition.
Buttler is unlikely to keep wickets in the T20I series which hints at broader chances that he would be able to attain enough fitness.
Notably, England do not have an official white-ball vice-captain but Sam Curran and Phil Salt are the strong candidates to lead the former champions in the series if Jos Buttler fails to make a cut.
READ: Two key players left out of England’s white-ball squad for Australia series