Jos Buttler: The English wicket-keeper batsman will play as many as six matches for Lancashire Lightning in T20 Blast 2021.
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England white-ball vice-captain Jos Buttler will be seen representing Lancashire in the upcoming season of Vitality T20 Blast 2021. Having returned early after the postponement of Indian Premier League, Buttler will return to his county club to bolster the team for the first six matches.
Not part of England’s Test squad for a two-match Test series against New Zealand beginning from June 2, Buttler will return to competitive cricket with England’s premier T20 competition.
After playing a couple of home matches against Derbyshire and Leicestershire on June 9 and 10 respectively, Buttler will play four away matches before possible joining the national team. It is worth mentioning that England are scheduled to host Sri Lanka for three T20Is and three ODIs from June 23.
Buttler, who first played for Lancashire Lightning in 2014, will be representing the club after three years. In 35 T20s for Lancashire, Buttler has scored 1,057 runs at an average of 39.15 and a strike rate of 159.67 including 11 half-centuries.
Jos Buttler to confirms availability for Vitality T20 Blast 2021
“We are thrilled to have Jos available for our first six T20 matches this summer, it will be a huge boost to Glen and the squad. Unfortunately, we have not seen as much of Jos as we would like in recent years, due to busy international schedules, but I am sure that his availability for the Blast this summer will excite Members and supporters alike.
“As well as strengthening an already strong batting line-up, the experience that a Cricket World Cup winner like Jos can pass onto some of our younger players in the squad will be invaluable,” Lancashire Director of Cricket Paul Allott said in a statement.
“I am really looking forward to pulling on the Red Rose of Lancashire once again. It has been a while, but I always receive a really warm welcome whenever I return to play at Emirates Old Trafford, whether that is with Lancashire or with England.
“I hope that I can help the lads to get off to a strong start in the Blast and the lay the foundations for yet another run to Finals Day,” Buttler said in a statement.
Earlier this week, England men’s Director of Cricket Ashley Giles had opened up on selecting Sam Billings as Ben Foakes’ replacement ahead of the likes of Buttler and Jonny Bairstow as all the three players were involved in IPL 2021.
“That was the case with [Sam] Billings. He went back to Kent and played some cricket to put himself in the frame. Communication was made from [head coach] Chris Silverwood to those players [Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler] about what the plan was.
“We felt there was no need to go back on that. They’ve been spending time with families and Jos is away for a few days at the moment. We didn’t want to drag those players out of that at the 11th hour. There was no plan to change that,” Giles had told reporters.
