Jos Buttler Injury Update: The English wicket-keeper batter had injured his finger while keeping in the recently concluded fourth Test.
Advertisement
A result which won’t change the series result by any means but England will still relish a hard-fought draw in the recently concluded fourth Ashes 2021-22 Test match in Sydney.
Chasing a 388-run target, England barely managed to save their last wicket with veteran pacer-duo of Stuart Broad and James Anderson playing the last two overs against Nathan Lyon and Steven Smith respectively.
Smith vs Anderson…. ofcourse, that’s how it was meant to end.#AshesTest
— Nikhil Naz (@NikhilNaz) January 9, 2022
England, who eventually scored 270/9 in 102 overs in their fourth innings, were primarily carried into this match-saving position on the back of half-centuries from opening batter Zac Crawley (77) and vice-captain Ben Stokes (60).
“It [draw] was really important. Has been a difficult tour. Tough at times but one thing I am proud of is the determination and character of the team and find way to get a draw out of this game,” Root told Fox Sports during the post-match presentation ceremony.
Jos Buttler Injury Update
A main reason why this draw is all the more special for England is them playing with a couple of injured players in batter Jonny Bairstow and wicket-keeper batter Jos Buttler.
Being asked about the same, Root didn’t shy away from providing an injury update around Buttler stating that he won’t be taking any further part in the series and that will travel back home from Sydney itself.
“Number of guys have had difficult injuries. We turn up next week and hopefully go one step better. Jos Buttler is going home after this game. It’s quite a bad injury. Real disappointment and shame to not have him at Hobart. The way he stood up for the team shows his character,” Root added.
It is worth mentioning that Buttler had injured his finger while keeping in the first innings of this match. Buttler, who batted in both the innings with an injury, has been nothing short of dismal on his maiden Ashes series down under. In eight innings this series, Buttler’s 107 runs had come at a disappointing average of 15.28.
It is noteworthy that England have already included uncapped wicket-keeper batter Sam Billings to their Test squad. Representing Sydney Thunder in the ongoing Big Bash League 2021-22, Billings has scored 284 runs in nine T20s at an average and strike rate of 40.57 and 153.51 respectively to be the fifth-highest run-scorer.
