At the conclusion of England’s current Champions Trophy 2025 campaign, Jos Buttler has made the decision to resign as the team’s white-ball captain. In Karachi, the 34-year-old made his announcement prior of the team’s final league match against South Africa.
Buttler acknowledged that his team’s early Champions Trophy elimination after consecutive defeats to Afghanistan and Australia in Lahore compelled the decision. The former World Champions had already experienced a bad run of ODI results going into the competition after losing to India 0–3 in Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates one week before.
“It’s the right decision for me, it’s the right decision for the team and hopefully somebody else who can come in and work closely alongside Baz [Brendon McCullum] to take the team back to where it needs to be,” Buttler said in a press conference on Friday (February 28).
“Yeah, I think it’s quite clear that this tournament was going to be important results-wise for my captaincy and obviously two losses and being out of the tournament with a bit of a hangover of some tournaments before, I think I just probably reached the end of the road for me and my captaincy, which is a shame,” Buttler said.
“I think overriding emotions are still sadness and disappointment, but I’m sure in time that will pass and I can get back to really enjoying my cricket and also be able to reflect on what an immense honour it is to captain your country and all the special things that come with that.”
After Eoin Morgan retired in 2022, Buttler assumed leadership of England’s white-ball teams, and later that year, he won the T20 World Cup in Australia with ease. However, following England’s elimination in the 2023 ODI World Cup group stages, results in both formats plummeted. After that, they lost badly to India in Guyana in the semifinals of their T20 championship defense.
Brendon McCullum was hired by the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to coach the white-ball teams beginning in 2025 in addition to his duties as Test match coach in the face of declining fortunes. However, despite his alliance with Buttler, England has lost nine of their ten white-ball matches since the year began, so there were no easy cures.
