At the conclusion of England’s current Champions Trophy 2025 campaign, Jos Buttler has made the decision to resign as the team’s white-ball captain. In Karachi, the 34-year-old made his announcement prior of the team’s final league match against South Africa.
“It’s the right decision for me, it’s the right decision for the team, and hopefully somebody else who can come in and work closely alongside Baz [Brendon McCullum] to take the team back to where it needs to be,” Jos Buttler stated during a press conference on Friday, February 28.
Jos Buttler acknowledged that his team’s early Champions Trophy elimination after consecutive defeats to Afghanistan and Australia in Lahore compelled the decision. The former World Champions had already experienced a bad run of ODI results going into the competition after losing to India 0–3 in Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates one week before.
“Yeah, I think it’s quite clear that this tournament was going to be important results-wise for my captaincy and obviously two losses and being out of the tournament with a bit of a hangover of some tournaments before, I think I just probably reached the end of the road for me and my captaincy, which is a shame,” said Jos Buttler.
“I think overriding emotions are still sadness and disappointment, but I’m sure in time that will pass and I can get back to really enjoying my cricket and also be able to reflect on what an immense honour it is to captain your country and all the special things that come with that.”
After Eoin Morgan retired in 2022, Jos Buttler assumed leadership of England’s white-ball teams, and later that year, he won the T20 World Cup in Australia with ease. However, following England’s elimination in the 2023 ODI World Cup group stages, results in both formats plummeted. After that, they lost badly to India in Guyana in the semifinals of their T20 championship defence.
Brendon McCullum was hired by the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to coach the white-ball teams beginning in 2025 in addition to his duties as Test match coach in the face of declining fortunes. However, despite his alliance with Jos Buttler, England has lost nine of their ten white-ball matches since the year began, so there were no easy cures.
Jos Buttler won 18 and 26 games as England’s captain overall in 44 ODIs and 51 T20Is. With at least 15 games in charge, he has the second-worst win-loss record of any England skipper in ODIs.
“I regret that, and it’s clear that I was eager to work closely with Brendon, who only recently joined the club, in the hopes of a speedy turnaround and moving the company forward. However, things haven’t quite gone as planned. Jos Buttler remarked, “It just seems like the time is right for me and the team to have a change.”
Some of Jos Buttler sentiments were echoed by McCullum: “I’m very sorry for Jos. He has put a lot of effort into leading his nation and trying to get the most out of the men around him, as we have all witnessed over the past several years.
“People seem to forget that he won the World Cup a few years ago, and he will always be remembered for that. Jos has done a great job, frequently without his best players available, so it is really selfless of him to stand aside and let someone else take over.
“He is still a huge player for us moving forward and I’m sure we’ll look at ways to get the best out of him so he has maximum impact as well,” McCullum said.
India
