England’s hitman Buttler draws confidence from Warne’s ‘spin’

The man who threatens to be a bowler's worst nightmare at this month's World Cup lives by a blunt cricketing ethos and has revealed Shane Warne's influence on his career.

Jos Buttler will arguably be England's most important player when the host nation officially begins its quest for a maiden World Cup title against South Africa on May 30.

Buttler set the scene for an explosive campaign when the No.5 crunched a match-winning 110 against Pakistan in game two of their five-game one-day international series over the weekend.

England's Jos Buttler celebrates his match-winning century against Pakistan at the weekend.Credit: AP

His century came off 50 balls, the second-fastest by an Englishman. Buttler also holds the record for the fastest with 46 balls, and now has five of the 10 fastest ODI centuries by an England batsman.

In a recent interview with Cricketer magazine, Butter said Warne, through their time together with the Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League last year, had provided valuable inspiration. Warne has a mentoring role with the franchise.

"I love listening to him – he's a great storyteller, and has an incredible outlook on the game. He sees things differently. He just gave me so much confidence. And it didn't feel false, either, which was a big thing for me," Buttler said.

"When I got a recall to the England Test team I was excited, but there were a few nerves, too. I just didn't know how it was going to go. Warne just said: 'Enjoy it, be yourself and take it on. Be authentic, true to yourself. You're good enough to do it.'

"Coming from someone who is one of the greatest players to have ever played the game, that meant a massive amount."

Buttler's other notable knocks include a century off 60 balls against the West Indies in Grenada this year, another off 61 balls against Sri Lanka at Lord's in 2014 and one off 66 balls against New Zealand at Edgbaston in 2015.

Former England cricket captain Nasser Hussain has declared Buttler a freak and believes he is one of the greatest white-ball players of all time.

Jos Buttler brings up his ton against Australia at the SCG in last summer's third ODI.Credit: AAP

The England ODI wicket-keeper now has 3497 runs at an average of 42 (eight centuries in 129 matches) with a strike rate of 119.88 – the latter bettered only by the West Indies' Andre Russell (130.45) and Australia's Glenn Maxwell (121.95). Maxwell, however, has only 2700 runs in 100 games, while Russell has 998 runs in 52 ODIs.

Buttler, who boasts all the shots, has the words "f--- it" on the top of his bat handle to remind him of the mantra he needs to maintain to play at his best.

"It came out of various conversations I had with our (England) team psychologist Mark Bawden," Buttler said.

"We worked out that my best state of mind at the crease was when I thought 'f--- it'. Trust myself and let everything take care of itself. What will be will be."

Buttler averages 47.52 in 27 ODIs against Australia, and will likely have at least two cracks at Aaron Finch's side – in a warm-up clash on May 25 in Southampton, and through the tournament itself on June 25 at Lord's.

Australia will arrive in England on Wednesday, having been in Gallipoli since Saturday as part of a team-bonding exercise.