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Jos Buttler recalled to England Test squad at perfect time to restore some pride

New outlook: Jos Buttler has the force of personality to help lift spirits in the dressing room: PA
New outlook: Jos Buttler has the force of personality to help lift spirits in the dressing room: PA

England have recalled Jos Buttler to Test cricket at exactly the right time to galvanise a dressing room that had become deflated in the wake of a dreadful winter.

Buttler is a leader and thrilling cricketer and is felt to have the force of personality to help restore morale.

When the squad linked up on Sunday, they resolved to start afresh, to train harder and with more purpose. They backed that up on Monday, with one of the longest training sessions players could remember.

Buttler says he cannot remember being in such good touch, whatever the colour of the ball, and added to Pakistan’s inexperience and the moves north in the batting order by Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow, allowing what Buttler variously called a “luxury pick” and a “spare position”, and the start of England’s summer should help to banish memories of the tours of Australia and New Zealand.

It will be interesting to see how Ed Smith and England use that No7 spot moving forward. With Ben Stokes and Bairstow in the top six, there is scope for flexibility. Perhaps in the subcontinent and on spinning wickets, Moeen Ali could slot back in as a second spinner. Or perhaps, at the right moment, it could be used to blood a new batsman like Joe Clarke or Liam Livingstone.

For now, Buttler is the right choice.

Many felt his talent had been lost to Test cricket but he still prized the longest form above all others. The retirement of Kevin Pietersen actually reminded him of its value. All the talk then was of KP’s great Test innings — the Oval 2005 and the 2012 trio of Colombo, Headingley and Mumbai — not the short form smasher.

“(Sky’s Ian Ward and David Lloyd) were talking about his career, and all they spoke about was his Test match knocks — his hundred against South Africa, his hundred at the Oval in 2005, Mumbai or Sri Lanka,” said Buttler.

“He played some fantastic white-ball knocks but for those guys it was Test matches they were talking about — and I think people still feel Test matches are the real true test of cricketers.

“I won’t leave with any regrets if it doesn’t work out, but I feel like the best players can play all formats.”

He spoke on Monday about how he is a more mature, resilient, self-sufficient cricketer than he was when he last played Tests because, due to his time on the T20 circuit, he does not have access to the same coaches all the time. The latest figure he has leant on is Shane Warne, who was working with him at Rajasthan Royals and encouraged Buttler, as England have too, to not overcomplicate things when changing formats.

“For me, it’s about trusting instincts and not fighting them,” he said. “In the past I felt as though I had to play in a certain way. Sometimes I’ve tried to differentiate the games too much. Speaking to Joe Root, he has a very similar method and mindset across all the formats. That’s what makes him successful. Just play the game of cricket — white ball, red ball, Test match, T20, hundred balls, whatever.”

Pakistan trained at Lord’s for the first time this morning.

They remain dangerous in any format — as England discovered in the Champions Trophy last year — but this is a very different squad to the one that drew 2-2 in England two summers ago, shorn of Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan.

The key components of this side are the seamers, led by Mohammad Amir, and the batting trio of Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq and the wicketkeeping captain Azhar Ali. The loss of Yasir Shah is a frustration, but he is replaced by the 19-year-old leg-spinner Shadab Khan, a player of immense promise.