JOS BUTTLER looked shattered and ready to quit after his team suffered yet another embarrassing defeat.
Buttler asked “am I part of the problem?” after Afghanistan’s victory by eight runs guaranteed England’s early exit from the Champions Trophy.
It is the third global cricket tournament on the trot in which England have been terrible and, frankly, nobody should be surprised they were humiliated by the Afghans.
Buttler does not have the natural presence to be a top captain in the way his predecessor Eoin Morgan had. Perhaps even more worryingly, the job has damaged his greatest asset – his devastating batting.
Buttler will be in charge against South Africa on Saturday but he should be allowed to fall on his sword. If he doesn’t, he should be sacked.
When quizzed about his future, Buttler admitted: “I’m not going to make any emotional statements right now but I think for myself and the guys at the top we should consider all possibilities.
“I’ve enjoyed the captaincy. A lot of people say it doesn’t sit well with me but I enjoy the challenge.
“But I don’t enjoy losing games of cricket and, when results are not going well, you do look in the mirror and ask, ‘Am I part of the problem? Or am I part of the solution?’ That’s what we’ve got to work out.”
Asked to clarify if he is considering his future, Buttler added: “Yes. I’ll take a bit of time to work out personally what is right and those guys at the top will have their own views, too.
“We need to get the white-ball team back to where it should be.
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“This is going to hurt the players, it’s going to be raw. But you have to allow things like this to push you forward.”
Harry Brook will be favourite to take over but his form has disappeared in recent weeks. He did a decent job when deputising for an injured Buttler against Australia last September.
England have totally lost their way in 50-over cricket and the elevation of Brendon McCullum to all-format coach seems to have made them even worse.
Since taking over, McCullum has overseen nine white-ball defeats in ten matches.
Coached by former England batsman Jonathan Trott, Afghanistan recovered from a bad start and totally deserved their victory.
They were smarter, calmer under pressure and more skilful. England looked shambolic at times, undermined by poor decisions and misguided strategy.
An England boycott – which many wanted – would have given them zero points. And that’s what they got anyway.
This was certainly not a fluke. Afghanistan also beat England during their disastrous World Cup defence in India in 2023.
England’s playing of only four specialist bowlers bit them because Mark Wood damaged his knee during his fourth over and was a virtual passenger for the rest of the game.
Then – apart from Joe Root – England’s batsmen committed their usual crime of making promising starts before tossing away wickets.
Afghanistan plunged to 37-3 in the ninth over with Jofra Archer claiming all three victims. England might have thought they were in for an easy day.
But opener Ibrahim Zadran made an incredible 177 from 146 balls and overtook Ben Duckett’s 165 – made against Australia last Saturday – as the highest score in the history of the Champions Trophy. Afghanistan ransacked 222 from the final 25 overs and 113 from the last ten.
Root’s 120 kept England in the game but there was not sufficient support from the top six. When you’re chasing 326 to win, flirty cameos are no good.
