Record-breaking Buttler still pushing the boundaries

Four-hundred-and-two matches for England. But which one, above all, stands out for Jos Buttler?

"I think the obvious one is the 2019 World Cup final," Buttler says, after a couple of seconds of pretending to think. "It will take something special to top that."

It feels an odd thing to say about the man who has won it all for England and, more to the point, after walking out in Kandy for the second T20I against Sri Lanka, become his country's leading all-time appearance-maker, but Buttler remains an underappreciated - if ever present - figure in English cricket.

In that 2019 final, the day is remembered as belonging to Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer. But it was Buttler whose run-a-ball 59 kept the scoreboard ticking over during England's chase. He was the only player on the day to make a substantial score at that rate, an innings that allowed Stokes to bunker down before launching later in the day. It was Buttler who struck the final ball of England's Super Over to the boundary to give them 15 to defend, and it was Buttler who gathered the ball from Jason Roy and removed the bails to give England the win by the barest of margins.

"What was scaring me," Buttler said shortly after the final, "was that if we lost, I didn't know how I'd play cricket again."

Likewise in the 2022 T20 World Cup fiinal, it is Stokes' backs-to-the-wall fifty that is remembered but it was Buttler, as captain, whose 26 off 17 on a pitch where no one was able to find any rhythm kickstarted and broke the back of the chase. Twice, in England's World Cup victories, Buttler has played the crucial supporting act. Both finals would have been lost without him, and yet neither final is remembered for him.

Even the notion that it was a tournament won off the back of Eoin Morgan's legacy does Buttler a disservice. It was Buttler who brought Alex Hales back into the equation. Hales, behind Buttler himself, was England's leading run-scorer. And it was Buttler who backed Sam Curran as a death bowler and was rewarded with a Player-of-the-Tournament performance from the left-armer.

"It's a bit surreal to be honest," Buttler says reflecting on his achievement. "I'm really grateful to have played that many games for England. I'm really proud to have played that many games.

"To think of that kid who would have just bit your hand off for one game for England, to have played 400 is awesome."

When Buttler arrived on the scene 15 years ago, he was a novelty. The rockstar in the land that preferred classical music, he was a white-ball basher in a country that favoured high elbows and where Test is best.

A self-described child of the 2005 Ashes, that his Test career never clicked remains a source of disappointment. Rightly or wrongly, there will always be an element of "what if" with Buttler's Test career. After eight matches he averaged over 50, but after 57 Tests it had slipped to 31.94. And his strike-rate of 54.18 was out of keeping for a man who had never needed a long time to have a good time at the crease.

"My dream was to be one of the best players in the world and try and reach my potential," Buttler says. "In my opinion, to do that you have to be brilliant at all the formats.

"I always feel like I fell a bit short of where I wanted to be in Test cricket… I wouldn't say white-ball cricket is easier because it has its own challenges, but I think Test cricket is the truest test of the players."

So, too, does he highlight the end of his white-ball captaincy tenure as a regret. But no one can have it all. Had Buttler nailed Test cricket and captaincy, there truly would have been no more worlds left to conquer.

Buttler is one of only five England cricketers to have won an Ashes, an ODI World Cup and a T20 World Cup alongside Stokes, Chris Woakes, Moeen Ali and Mark Wood. And it doesn't take much of a cold-hearted squint either to reduce that list to only Stokes and Buttler. Woakes won the Ashes in 2013 playing the fifth Test of an already decided series, Moeen did not play in the 2019 final and nor did Wood in 2022. Buttler and Stokes are the only two to complete the caveat-free set.

In an example of the changing landscape of international cricket, while he is now first on the list of England appearances, he remains 13th in number of days played for England. Anderson is still top of that list. He woke up and went to the ground on 1043 days as an England cricketer, Buttler still languishes over 400 days behind on 594.

"It's a big achievement and not, at the same time," Buttler says with a laugh, before expanding on what keeps him motivated to keep coming back. "I've always wanted to try and reach my potential. That's been my biggest driver over the years, is 'can I get to the level that I think I can'?

"And in a weird way, you probably never ever get there, to be honest, which is what keeps you turning up to train and work hard and try and get better.

"And to be honest, just a love of playing for England and how special it is. A lot of the time, just simply looking at the badge on your chest or on your cap is all the motivation you need."

Buttler has no plans to stop. He's still enjoying his cricket and remains revered and in demand around the world. His team-mates love him, and he carries the genius, and now age, for him to be a hero to many who sit alongside him.

Buttler is now officially England's greatest-ever cricketer in the quantity of games played, but crucially, he is one of their greatest in terms of quality too.

"There'll be some people at home who will be really proud," Buttler concludes. "My wife and children, who sacrifice a lot for being on the road a lot and playing for England. My parents will be incredibly proud. My dad passed away five months ago now, I'm sure he'll be up there somewhere looking down, very proud."