Star England batter Jos Buttler has suffered another setback in his recovery from a calf injury, which forced him out of Lancashire’s T20 Blast quarter-final game. He remains a doubt for England’s upcoming T20Is against Australia. The first T20I between both sides will be held on September 11.
The ECB is not too concerned about Buttler’s fitness as they hope that he will be available to lead them in the white-ball tour. However, one amongst Sam Curran or Phil Salt will take charge in case Buttler is not available. The 33-year-old is unlikely to play as a wicketkeeper, which makes it even more possible that he will play despite the injury.
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Buttler has not played any cricket since England’s defeat to India in the T20 World Cup 2024 semi-final. He sustained the injury in July 2024, and after weeks of rehab, he was targeting the upcoming T20 Blast game as a chance for his comeback. Lancashire head coach Dale Benkenstein revealed that he has aggravated his injury and will not be available.
“We’ve had some bad news on his recovery, he had an injury he was recovering from, and he’s sort of tweaked it again. He’s not only just out of our T20s, but I think he’s even struggling to make the international ones. He was very keen to play for us,” Dale Benkenstein was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
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Apart from Buttler, Lancashire will have the likes of Salt, Liam Livingstone, and Saqib Mahmood in their arsenal for the clash. The tickets for the game have been sold out for two weeks, and without the services of Buttler, Lancashire will hope to put their best foot forward in Hove.