Jos Buttler hopes to return from the calf injury that kept him out of the Hundred by focusing on Lancashire’s T20 Blast quarterfinal matchup against Sussex.
Rob Key, managing director, has endorsed Buttler, who hasn’t played since the T20 World Cup, to stay as England’s white-ball captain following Matthew Mott’s dismissal as head coach. He will collaborate with his old Somerset teammate Marcus Trescothick, the interim coach, in September’s Twenty20 and One Day International series against Australia.
Buttler has resumed training after suffering a calf injury during the Hundred preparations. He has been working with England physiotherapist Craig de Weymarn in Bristol. He posted on Instagram last week, stating, “Another good session in the bank.” In a another post, he added, “As a professional sportsman, picking up injuries is always frustrating and I was gutted to miss the Hundred this year.”
Despite not playing for Lancashire this season, Buttler might yet make it to their quarterfinal match on September 4 in Hove, if he passes a late fitness test. Jofra Archer is anticipated to be available for Sussex, who were led by Tymal Mills to a second-place finish in the South Group. Archer might open the bowling to his England skipper.
Lancashire is looking to salvage their season by making it to the T20 Blast Finals Day. They are fighting to stay in the County Championship’s second division and have won two of their eight Metro Bank Cup games.
According to their coach Dale Benkenstein, “that’s looking really positive,” ESPNcricinfo said on Sunday. “Everyone need to be ready for the quarterfinals. Jos has been in rehab quite a bit. After speaking with me, he expressed his want to play. We are content to let it expire on the final day.
“On Monday, right before the match, he’ll have a fitness test. If the England physios and everyone else approve, he’ll play. We really hope that he will play if he is healthy and prepared.”
Liam Livingstone, Saqib Mahmood, and Phil Salt were rested from Lancashire’s Championship loss to Surrey this week, but they should be available for the T20 quarterfinal. While Chris Green is in the Caribbean Premier League, George Dockrell of Ireland will fill in.
Mahmood was not taken on at The Oval as Lancashire attempted to control his workload after two summers marred by injuries. “The risk was excessively high,” Benkenstein declared. “A bit of a dodgy back” kept Salt from playing following week against Hampshire.
Benkenstein remarked, “The four days of [the competition] have been really tough for us.” “We continue to persevere. However, we didn’t think we had the greatest squad going into the T20 tournament since we had a lot of players missing, so it was encouraging that we won five of our first six games despite having a lot of guys absent.
“As we approach the knockout stages, we ought to be playing with our strongest squad, which offers us the best opportunity. For us, it is crucial. You enter a season with the intention of winning it all, and if we are successful, we may make it to the Finals, where you are two games away. That’s our desired outcome.
The second and third Twenty20 Internationals against Australia are paired with Finals Day on September 14, and Buttler and other players included in England’s T20 team won’t be available.
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