Jos Buttler admits "frustration" as England stars skip Bangladesh tour

03 February 2023 , 11:33

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Since taking over as white-ball captain last summer, England are yet to win an ODI series under Jos Buttler (Image: Alex Davidson/Getty Images)

England white-ball captain Jos Buttler has admitted his frustration at players opting to feature in franchise tournaments instead of being involved in March's tour of Bangladesh.

England will play three ODIs and three T20Is against Bangladesh, with the ODI series one of just three left to play before their 50-over World Cup defence begins in India in October.

The jam packed schedule already meant Buttler would be missing the likes of Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Duckett, Olly Stone and Will Jacks for the series as they are involved in England's Test tour of New Zealand and there is only a one day gap between that ending and the Bangladesh ODIs beginning.

Alex Hales, Sam Billings and Liam Dawson, meanwhile, opted to skip the tour in favour of more financially lucrative deals in the Pakistan Super League. David Willey, who was part of the squad for the recent ODI series against South Africa, will also miss the tour to spend time with his family in between stints in the SA20 and the Indian Premier League.

And while Buttler has been left frustrated, he acknowledges that England have to "work with it as best you can" and said those who had withdrawn remained in contention for the World Cup. "It's quite a unique situation," he admitted.

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"It's the time we are in. The way the games are scheduled, I can sort of understand it both ways. As an England captain, on one side you wish that everyone would see playing for England as the main thing and grab any opportunity available. But there are bigger things in play as well.

Alex Hales is among the players to have decided to skip England's tour of Bangladesh in March (Philip Brown/Popperfoto/Popperfoto via Getty Images)

"The discrepancy between what people can earn playing for England and not playing for England is quite large, so that's a factor that must be considered. For each individual that will be a different decision made at different times of their careers.

"In this day and age, you've got to try to work with it as best you can and if people make themselves unavailable, they know they're giving someone else a chance. But I certainly don't want to be in a position where you rule people out and say they'll never play for England again, or anything like that.

"Wherever people are playing, we want to pick our best available team, especially for World Cups and big ICC events, so we are open minded. It's quite complicated, and there are some frustrations at certain points but I completely understand people's positions and it's an individual decision at the end of the day."

Matthew Cooper