Jos Buttler has officially stepped down as England’s white-ball captain, announcing his decision at a press conference on Friday, following England’s disappointing exit from the 2025 Champions Trophy.
A listless England, barring Joe Root who smashed a century, suffered an eight-run defeat against the Afghans, and it pushed them out of the marquee event prematurely.
This was the third successive failed ICC tournament campaign by England under Buttler’s captaincy.
“Just to let you all know, I am going to stand down as England’s captain,” Buttler announced at the presser.
“It was the right decision for me and the team. Hopefully, somebody else can come in and work closely alongside Baz (Brendon McCullum) to take the team back to where it needs to be.”
When asked about what prompted Buttler to arrive at the shock decision, the ENG batter explained, “I think it was quite clear that this tournament was going to be quite important, results-wise and for my captaincy. Obviously, two losses and being out of the tournament, and perhaps also exhibiting a bit of hangover from the tournaments before led me to believe that we have reached the end of the road for my captaincy”.
“It’s a shame. I’m sad about it…But it just felt like it’s time for me and the team to have a change”.
Since winning the 2022 T20 World Cup, Buttler has led England to early exits in the 2023 ODI World Cup, a big semi-final defeat in the 2024 T20 World Cup and then another group-stage elimination in the ongoing 2025 Champions Trophy.
