England have been below par in ICC events since their win in the T20 World Cup 2022. They had a disastrous outing in the 2023 ODI World Cup and it was followed by another poor show in the T20 World Cup. Expectations were high from England in the ICC Champions Trophy where the flat pitches were a big aid to their brutal batting lineup, however, the team failed to reach the semifinal after back to back defeats to Australia and Afghanistan.

The shambolic performances have invited heavy criticism for captain Jos Buttler, who now faces risk of losing his leadership duties. Former England cricketers Michel Atherton and Nasser Hussain feel that time is up for Jos Buttler as England skipper.

“I think his time is done as captain,” Atherton said on Sky Sports. “I think that’s probably right. England do judge themselves on these ICC events, they’ve made that very clear, that because they come along so frequently now, they build towards these tournaments.

“But England have had three bad ones in a row now, the disastrous 50-over World Cup in India, a poor T20 World Cup in the Caribbean – where they made the semis but they didn’t beat anybody of note through it – and now here, and their cricket is way below the standards which they set themselves.

“Sometimes you just have to say it’s not working and therefore it’s time for a change and time for somebody else, and I think deep down, he probably knows that,” Atherton added.

Michael Vaughan also echoed the same sentiments and said that he never saw Jos Buttler as a great leader. Drawing comparisons with World Cup winning captain Eoin Morgan, Hussain said that Buttler does not have the presence in the field that Morgan had.

I’ve never looked at Buttler and thought ‘wow what a leader,’ he doesn’t have that presence in the field that an Eoin Morgan had,” Hussain said. “That’s a bad comparison because you’re talking about England’s greatest-ever white-ball captain, and he was a hard act to follow.

“As far as captaincy goes, I don’t think Buttler has added that much to this England team, but it’s taken away from his batting. And when you add the two together, take away from a great player and you’re not gaining with leadership and captaincy, I think it’s probably time to move on.”

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