Buttler's mental resurgence at the top of McCullum's white-ball priorities

After the 2015 ODI World Cup, which saw England crash out in the preliminary stages of the tournament, a white-ball revolution started in the country. The refreshing brand of fearless cricket in limited-overs cricket was initiated by the captain-coach duo of Eoin Morgan and Trevor Bayliss but the former often revealed how much the new culture was influenced by the then New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum.

It is no coincidence then, that it needed 'Baz' McCullum to reinvent England's Test cricket culture with the now commonly called 'Bazball' style of play. Cut to 2024 and the dynamic New Zealander is set to take charge of the men's white-ball side after what's been an underwhelming couple of years in the shorter formats.

After a golden period from 2015-22 where England racked up bilateral series wins capped by World Cup glory in ODIs and T20Is, the 2023-24 season has seen a downward spiral. Underwhelming results in the 2023 ODI World Cup and the T20 World Cup this year warranted a revamp, one that McCullum is set to lead and among the many things on his agenda is the mental well-being of regular skipper Jos Buttler. The wicket-keeper batter has bore the brunt of England's failures with debates on his style of captaincy flaring among the pundits.

The captaincy criticism, however, can't be mixed with his individual form as Buttler has endured consistent returns during 2023 and 2024 with his T20I strike rate being his highest in a calendar year since 2013. On his part, McCullum threw his weight behind Buttler and felt that the England's premier white-ball batter is just a mental reset away from gaining his mojo as captain.

"He's done a great job," McCullum said at a press conference. "He won a World Cup as captain. He's an incredibly gifted player. He's a fine leader.

"My job is to get the best out of him so that all those that sit in the dressing room feel like they can be 10 feet tall and bulletproof when they walk out to play and they know that the skipper is going to enjoy the ride with them."

Buttler has seen negligible on-field action since the T20 World Cup with a calf injury ruling him out of The Hundred and subsequently, the upcoming T20I series against Australia at home. As things stand, the 33-year-old is also doubtful for the ODIs that follow against their arch-rivals. Phil Salt is set to fill in as the stand-in skipper for T20Is with Harry Brook being the future option. The injury lay-off couldn't have come at a more inopportune time for Buttler, given his and England's intent to revamp their white-ball plans. McCullum, though, is unfazed by the situation and has a simple message for his captain.

"What I want from Jos is for him to enjoy the next few years. If he was to retire today he'd go down as probably the greatest white-ball player England's produced. So the opportunity for the next three or four years, however long he plays for, is just to enjoy it. Not to protect anything.

"Just get the most out of all those guys around him, keep walking towards the danger, play with a smile on his face and try to do something which is really cool, where you can look back and say: 'Gee, I really enjoyed those last few years.'"