Buttler 'still has England ambitions' despite T20 World Cup slump

Former England captain has made one half-century in four ICC events, but is contracted for another 18 months

ESPNcricinfo staff

Published: Mar 18, 2026, 10:43 AM (4 hrs ago)

Jos Buttler is hopeful that England's T20 World Cup semi-final defeat to India was not the final appearance of his international career but has acknowledged that there are no guarantees he will be picked for their next white-ball series in July.

Buttler was desperately out of form at the World Cup, making 87 runs in eight innings, and has scored a single half-century in his past four ICC events. But he has another 18 months left to run on his ECB central contract and said that he hopes to be involved when England face India in five T20Is and three ODIs during their home summer.

"I hope so," Buttler said on his podcast, For the Love of Cricket. "I don't know. Obviously I had a poor tournament, which is disappointing, but I've been playing some of the best cricket of my [career] in recent years, so hopefully I can get back to playing my best.

"I certainly have ambitions [to continue playing for England] but no longer being a captain, I'm not a selector and whatever, so what will be will be. Yeah, we will see."

Related

Can England's regime change to meet post-Ashes realities?

Quietly fades Jos: England's new era leaves no room for Buttler

The greatest T20 World Cup 2026 performance

Liam Livingstone: 'I asked England for help, I was told I care too much'

Buttler said that he had spent a week "up the mountains" with his family in France to switch off from cricket after returning from the World Cup, and will travel back to India on Saturday to prepare for the IPL season with Gujarat Titans.

"I couldn't have been further away from cricket, which for me at the time was just perfect. It's exactly what I needed," Buttler said. "Obviously the tournament didn't go personally how I'd have liked it to go, and I just felt like I needed some space from cricket and not to think about the game, and I could not have been further away from cricket where I was in that week.

"It was really refreshing - I really enjoyed it, a complete sort of release. And slowly but surely, I'd say at the start of this week, [I am] just starting to reflect a bit and have a few thoughts about what's important to me and my cricket, and why it probably didn't go quite as I would've liked.

"There's elements [to what went wrong] that I actually don't really know exactly. For all your best intentions and hard work and efforts to perform, it just didn't work, and sometimes that's okay as well. That's something I've had to realise. It wasn't for a lack of effort. It just didn't quite happen."

Buttler also defended England's management after recent criticism, saying that Harry Brook and Brendon McCullum had created "a fantastic environment" at the World Cup, and said that India were "a serious team" and "worthy winners" after their dominant performances in the knockout stages.

Click here to read article