Jos Buttler playing with the handbrake off as England chase first World Cup win

England wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Butler has been making the extraordinary seem routine of late, with a strike rate to strike fear in rivals. Is there any stopping the World Cup hosts’ free-scoring power-hitter?

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When Jos Buttler walked out in the 35th over of England’s ODI clash with Pakistan in Southampton earlier this month, everyone knew what was going to happen.

The wicket was flat, the boundaries short. England’s top order had laid a platform of 3-211. The sun was shining.

So Buttler, shaking off any tiredness from recently becoming a father, simply did what he’s been doing consistently for the past two years: see ball; hit ball. Just 50 of which were needed to take him to three figures and his side to a match-winning position.

What was notable was just how routine he made it look. The extraordinary made ordinary by repetition.

Jos Buttler has scored five of England’s quickest ever ODI centuries.

That knock was the second fastest ODI hundred scored by an Englishman. Buttler himself holds the record — a 46 ball century against Pakistan in 2015. Five of his eight ODI centuries make the top ten of that list.

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Pakistan’s bowlers had no answer. Neither did their coach. “I’m not sure how you bowl at Jos Buttler,” said Mickey Arthur, with exasperated candour.

It is a puzzle eight other coaches at this year’s World Cup will need to solve if they are to derail the juggernaut that is the England side Buttler provides the Rolls Royce engine for.

While the hosts’ batting stocks run deep, Buttler is a man who can win a match virtually on his own. As he did in the fourth ODI against the West Indies in February, his 150 from 77 deliveries — including 12 sixes, the most by an Englishman in ODIs — leading the team to a barely credible 6-418.

He went from 50 to 100 in just 15 balls.

Buttler hits a six to reach his 100 during the second ODI against Pakistan at The Ageas Bowl.

No lesser an authority on the craft of big hitting, Chris Gayle, watched on in awe, describing Buttler as “a game-winner … a game-changer”.

“Every team,” he said, “needs a player like that”.

FORGED ON A FOREIGN FIELD

A winner of Wisden’s young cricketer of the year, Buttler’s talent has long been known. But after his natural progression in to the England side he was dropped from the Test squad after a poor 2015 Ashes series and an equally disappointing show in whites in the UAE soon after.

The roots of his recent success can arguably be traced back to that failure.

Demotion forced him to re-examine his approach. He went back to basics. Worked on the mental side of the game. A new mindset summed up in two words that he would scribble down on the top of his bat: ‘Fuck it.’

Jos Buttler’s bat handle msg to himself. Like I said, my kinda cricketer. 👊 pic.twitter.com/eX6uyhGM8Y

— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) June 3, 2018

Admitting he had reached a point where survival rather than run scoring had become his main focus, that crude message reminded himself of what he was capable of it he could manage the pressure.

In many ways Buttler appears perfectly forged for the demands of modern white ball cricket. He is heavily built with powerful arms. He can launch the ball great distances. Though does not rely on power alone. His repertoire includes all the shots, orthodox and otherwise: reverse sweeps, ramps, scoops.

It was why the Mumbai Indians paid top dollar for him in 2016.

Franchise cricket was not a place for Buttler to take early retirement or top up the pension pot. But, rather, a place for reinvention.

A sponge for cricket knowledge, he thrived in environments where he could learn off some of the game’s greats.

If he levels his destructive best against Australia at this World Cup, Shane Warne could be deemed in part culpable. It was the Australian legend whose advice and encouragement when they were together in the IPL that Buttler credits with his return to the international stage.

It still took time. In his first two spells in Mumbai he went past 50 just once. The Melbourne Renegades did not see his best, either. However, a move to the Rajasthan Royals and familiarity and comfort with “the chaos of the IPL” saw him finish with an average of 55 at a strike rate of 155 last year.

Sydney Thunder have, wisely, signed him up on a multiple year deal.

IPL form earned Buttler a recall to the England Test side, where he has prospered.

His form in franchise cricket even smoothed a return to the Test side — a return journey on a road many thought was emphatically one way only — as a specialist batsman rather than a wicketkeeper, thanks to the emergence of Jonny Bairstow.

It is, however, in the 50-over game where his value is most felt. And where he feels most valuable.

Asked recently which of the World Cup and Ashes he would prefer to win, he eschewed the usual platitudes of both being of equal importance, and emphatically identified the World Cup as the prize that most drives him.

FORTUNE FAVOURS THE BRAVE

England has reached the World Cup final three times but has never won the big prize.

After their humiliation in Australia four years ago, dumped out in the group stage by Bangladesh, they have rebuilt and reinvented themselves under the astute leadership of Eoin Morgan.

Morgan — who describes Buttler as being “built like a champion racehorse” — knows he has a weapon at his disposal others are envious of.

As well as his batting Buttler is more than capable behind the sticks.

“His freakish knocks seem to be getting closer together, which is a great thing for us,” said Morgan during the Pakistan series.

“He has a gear that not many of us have. I don’t have it but it’s great to watch.”

The hosts open the tournament against South Africa on May 30 as the favourites and standard bearers of foot down all-out attack.

There is danger in that, of course. And the same world beaters have had their noses bloodied, by Pakistan on home soil in the 2017 Champions Trophy and more recently West Indies in a drawn series they were expected to dominate.

They even lost to Scotland 12 months ago.

Buttler and Eoin Morgan form the core of most people’s favourites to win this World Cup.

But Buttler for one sees no reason to change course at this late stage.

“It won’t be a side that plays cautiously that wins the World Cup,” he said when asked about how to approach the competition.

“Even in knockout games, it will be a side that plays some brave cricket and smart cricket. If we’re at a crossroads, we’ve been going down the positive route.”

If Buttler performs, England perform. And so plans will need to be formed to counter him.

Arthur may not have the method, but he knows the solution.

“You won’t stop him scoring fast,” admitted the Pakistan coach. “So you just have to get him out.”

Originally published as Jos Buttler playing with the handbrake off as England chase first World Cup win