Buttler reveals relief after being dropped from England Test duty

Jos Buttler was relieved to have lost his Test place during England’s series against Pakistan after struggling for runs.

The wicketkeeper-batsman made a solid start to his career in the long form of the game with three half-centuries in his first six innings, but the runs began to dry up in the United Arab Emirates last month and his confidence dipped.

After five scores under 10 in his last eight innings, Buttler was replaced by Jonny Bairstow behind the stumps for the final Test in Sharjah.

Time out of the game proved to be the right thing for the 25-year-old, Buttler returning for the one-day internationals and plundering a 46-ball century as England won the series 3-1.

“It was a relief to get dropped which is sad in a way because you never want to miss a game,” he told the Daily Telegraph. “But I was not performing and mentally I got to a stage where I was not concentrating and did not want to be there.

“I was not enjoying walking out there and feeling like I didn’t know where the next run was coming from.

“I would also worry that I would miss a nick when keeping because I would be thinking about batting too much. Keeping wicket is the worst place to be when out of form.

“[After being dropped] suddenly the world changed. When I was watching the Sharjah Test I wondered why I had been so worked up.”