INTERNATIONAL

Time running out for Buttler to save his Test career: Darren Gough


Former England seamer Darren Gough reckoned that England ‘out of form’ wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler’s Test place is in jeopardy if he doesn’t perform in the next two Tests against the West Indies.

Buttler has not scored any fifty in his last 12 Test innings. Apart from that, he dropped such a catch of Jermaine Blackwood, who ended up scoring match-winning 95 for West Indies in the first Test.

 

“Buttler has got two Test matches to save his career, for me,” said Darren Gough, who has picked 229 wickets in 58 Tests for England before hanging his boots from international cricket.

“He’s a terrific talent, lots of kids look up to him and he has all the shots. But, in Test cricket, you can’t just keep getting out and that’s what he keeps doing,” Gough told Sky Sports Cricket.

The former fast bowler also said that England should rotate between Jofra Archer and Mark Wood in the remaining Test matches against the tourists.

“I think Broad’s coming back in. I would rest Wood and Anderson at Old Trafford and bring in Broad and Woakes,” Gough said.

“That would be my plan then, with back-to-back Test matches, you bring Anderson and Wood back (for the third Test). I've said from the start - rotate Archer and Wood,” he also said.

“We got a bit carried away, seeing Wood bowl really quickly in South Africa. We’ve seen Archer do it, but it’s very hard to do it every single game. Broad, Woakes and Anderson are the reliable three, while Archer and Wood will blow away the opposition on their day,” he added.

Gough said England should get their selection right to bounce back in the three-Test series.

“Pick the right player, for the right conditions and don’t get too funky with selection. Stick to the plan and England will come back in this Test series,” he viewed.