Buttler must stay as England opener after triumphant return to the top

Jos Buttler turned 35 last week, an age that marks him out as the clear veteran of the young batting line-up that England have taken to Dublin. He was the only man in the top seven picked in Wednesday's series opener in his 30s, and the contrast with two 21-year-olds at No. 3 and 4 - Jacob Bethell, on captaincy debut, and Rehan Ahmed - was stark.

It begs a question that England will be understandably reluctant to confront: could next year's T20 World Cup, Buttler's seventh, also be his last? Perhaps it is premature to ask at a time when his output remains so consistent - only Nicholas Pooran has scored more T20 runs this year - but Buttler is now the same age that Eoin Morgan was when he called it quits in 2022.

Buttler remains as destructive as ever, as evidenced by his 30-ball 83 against South Africa in Manchester and his cold-blooded takedown of Ireland's Graham Hume in Malahide, but the fundamental truth of sporting careers is that they cannot last forever. Next year's 50-over World Cup in South Africa looms as the natural endpoint of Buttler's for England.

It is why England must keep Buttler at the top of their batting order, enabling him and Phil Salt to continue the dominant partnership that they resumed almost by default last week. Until this month, Buttler had spent a year batting at No. 3 in T20Is, the IPL, the Blast and the Hundred, but has clearly relished his return to opening in the last week.

"It's been good fun," Buttler said. "To be honest, I think I'm at that stage [of my career] where I don't really mind too much; I'm quite happy to bat anywhere. I've batted in those positions quite a bit now, so a change is quite refreshing sometimes. Having been at No. 3 for a little bit… I quite like those little subtle changes, and it gives you something new each time."

While batting at No. 3 protects Buttler from the swinging new ball - his only real vulnerability as a T20 player - it also means that he does not always have access to the fielding restrictions in the first six overs. "Going out at 0 for 0, you've got that full Powerplay," he said, asked what he had enjoyed about returning to the top of the order.

He has shown over the past week just how clinical he can be when there are only two fielders outside of the 30-yard circle: when he opens for England, Buttler averages 53.58 in the Powerplay, while striking at 155.31. He remains England's best batter, and their first question when constructing their batting line-up must be how to maximise his chances of success.

This block of T20 cricket has also served a reminder of Buttler and Salt's remarkable combination as an opening pair. After their 126-run stand off 47 balls last Friday, they added 74 in 28 on Wednesday and became the first England openers to score 1,000 T20I runs in partnership in the process.

"We bounce off each other," Salt said. "I'm always the one looking to be aggressive early on, to throw the first punch. Jos, more often than not, comes in and does his own thing straight after. It's a bit of a one-two in that regard. But then there's been times when I've not started quickly, and have given the strike over to Jos… The more you bat with one person, the easier it gets."

Buttler's own view is similar. "We've batted together quite a bit together at the top," he said. "We don't go out there with any set plan, to be honest. Obviously Salty's brilliant at getting going straightaway, and can take the pressure off [me] if needed. But we certainly try to bounce off each other, and just keep encouraging each other to play the way we do."

They have now opened the batting together 46 times across short-form cricket for England, Lancashire and Manchester Originals, and only five opening pairs in T20 history have scored more runs in partnership. Harry Brook said last week that England faced some "headaches" in selection but leaving a world-class opening pair together should act as a painkiller.

It means that Ben Duckett may have to shuffle down to No. 3, where he should be well equipped to take on spin through the middle overs, while Jamie Smith might have to wait his turn. In any case, recent history suggests that it would be a misstep for England to rely too heavily on Test players at the T20 World Cup, given its proximity to an Ashes series in Australia.

The fixtures have still not been published but England are expecting to spend most of next year's World Cup in India, a country that Buttler knows as well as anyone thanks to a decade of IPL experience. He remains one of the few players who could win his country the tournament almost single-handedly: England must give him the best chance to do so.