Buttler resigns as England white-ball captain

Jos Buttler has resigned as England white-ball captain after their group-stage exit in the ICC Champions Trophy.

England were beaten by Australia and Afghanistan to end their tournament early, making it six straight ODI defeats under Buttler's leadership.

Announcing his decision at a press conference on Friday, Buttler said: "I am going to stand down as England captain. It's the right decision for me, the right decision for the team.

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"Hopefully somebody else can come in and work closely alongside Baz [head coach Brendon McCullum] to take the team back to where it needs to be."

England's early exit at the Champions Trophy followed poor showings at both the 2023 50-over World Cup, where they were also knocked out in the group stage, and the 2024 T20 World Cup, where a semi-final run papered over the cracks.

Buttler: Captaincy 'reached the end of the road'

"It's quite clear [what prompted this decision]," Buttler added. "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 from some tournaments before, it probably reached the end of the road for me and my captaincy.

"It's a shame, I am sad about that. With Brendon only coming in recently, I was excited about working closely with him and hoped for a quick turnaround to take the team forward, but it's not worked out that way.

"It feels like it's the right time for me and for the team to have a change."

Buttler was appointed in the role in June 2022, taking over from Eoin Morgan, who had led England to their first 50-over World Cup win in 2019.

His captaincy got off to a successful start, leading England to a second T20 World Cup victory later that year, before results began to take a turn for the worse.

Buttler, often regarded as one of England's greatest white-ball batters, will carry on playing as a pure batter and possible wicketkeeper option.

"Overriding emotions are still sadness and disappointment, but I'm sure in time that will pass," Buttler added.

"I can get back to really enjoying my cricket. I will 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."

McCullum 'incredibly sad' for Buttler

Buttler will be afforded a final farewell as captain in England's final Champions Trophy group game against South Africa - live on Sky Sports Cricket from 8.30am (first ball, 9am).

"Jos will have his final game as captain tomorrow," McCullum confirmed. "The boys will hopefully put on a good show to send him off from his captaincy journey.

"I feel incredibly sad for Jos, we've all seen over the last couple of years how much he's invested in captaining his country and trying to get the very best out of those guys.

"People forget he won a World Cup only a couple of years ago, that can never be taken away from him.

"He's done a significant job, often without the best players available and often around different structures as well.

"It's incredibly selfless from Jos to step aside and leave the post for someone else. He's still a huge player for us moving forward, I'm sure we will look at ways to get the best out of him so he can have maximum impact."

Asked after the defeat to Afghanistan who could replace Buttler should he step down, Sky Sports' Michael Atherton identified Harry Brook among the leading candidates.

Atherton said: "Just thinking about it, there isn't that much choice. Harry Brook did it quite well, I thought, in the Australia 50-over series that ended the summer, and it's hard to think beyond him."

'Captaincy appeared to weigh heavy on Buttler'

Sky Sports journalist David Currie:

Following England's eight-run loss to Afghanistan on Wednesday, former England captains Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton said it was "time to move" on from Jos Buttler as captain.

It is hard to argue with that assessment.

He always had a tough act to follow in Eoin Morgan, who so spectacularly spearheaded England's white-ball revolution from 2015 World Cup failures to first-time winners four years later.

Though Buttler's leadership started positively, with the 2022 T20 World Cup win, England's dismal defence of both of those titles - particularly when winning only three of nine matches at the 2023 50-over World Cup - always had Buttler walking a tightrope thereafter.

With only four ODI wins in 14 following that debacle, Buttler was firmly on the hot seat going into the Champions Trophy, and successive defeats to Australia and Afghanistan simply sealed his fate.

His average in ODIs has dipped during his time as captain, with only one of his 11 centuries in the format coming as skipper, the responsibility of the role seeming at times to weigh heavy on the shoulders of a player famed for his inhibitions as a batter.

Harry Brook looks like his most obvious successor, with only Ben Duckett or a return to the role for former Test captain Joe Root the more left-field alternatives.