Jos Buttler's viral bat picture can get him in troubled waters

Team England registered an emphatic win over the touring Pakistani side in the Headingley Test. The win helped them draw the series 1-1. While the chief architects of the English win were the bowlers, Jos Buttler was the man with the bat for his team. Buttler scored an unbeaten 80 on a track that looked bowler friendly. His innings was sublime and laced with boundaries.

However, one particular moment in the game saw him getting viral on the social media. And now, the same reason can see him getting in trouble. During the drinks break on day 3, a visual saw Jos Buttler placing his bat and helmet on the ground. The writing on the bat handle surprised many as it had the words, “F**k it”, written on it. This might not sound overly offending to people since it is one of the most used slangs. However, the rules of ICC prohibit usage of any message on the cricketing equipment.

The ICC’s clothing and equipment rules and regulations state: “Players and team officials shall not be permitted to wear, display or otherwise convey messages through arm bands or other items affixed to clothing or equipment unless approved in advance by both the player or team official’s board and the ICC Cricket Operations Department… the ICC shall have the final say in determining whether any such message is approved.”

As per the quotes in Cricbuzz, Jos Buttler had reasoned out why he wrote those words on his willow. He remarked that they remind him of the mindset that he should have while playing. He revealed that he had written those words a couple of years after he was dropped from the Test side after a poor series against Pakistan in the UAE.

“I think it’s just something that reminds me of what my best mindset is — when I’m playing cricket, and probably in life as well. “It puts cricket in perspective. When you ‘nick off’, does it really matter? It’s just a good reminder when I’m in the middle, when I’m questioning myself, and it brings me back to a good place,” Jos Buttler remarked.

On the Test recall

Now, he was recalled in to the Test team for playing against the same opposition. The English selectors cited his sublime IPL form for the basis of his selection. Commenting on the comeback, Jos Buttler stressed on the importance of mentality. He noted that he keeps his mentality the same irrespective of the format now. Furthermore, he admitted that getting dropped taught him a lot of lessons.

“If anything my mentality has been quite similar to my first few Tests — not worrying about external factors, just trying to play the game, trusting myself. The big difference is experience. I used to think you could either do it or you can’t. But now I understand how valuable experience is, and maturity, to help you to deal with not only the on-field stuff but what goes on around it. I started to think too much about how to not get out, as opposed to how to score runs,” Buttler conceded.

“I learnt some really valuable stuff there, and got in a really bad rut that I just couldn’t get out of. The only real way to get out of it was to be dropped. Actually, being dropped released a lot of pressure,” he added further.

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