Clearer mind has Buttler primed for '19

Sydney Thunder wicketkeeper Jos Buttler says a clearer mind has him playing the most consistent cricket of his life as he approaches the biggest year of his burgeoning career.

The 28-year-old has been one of the form players of BBL|08, with his team-high 55 off 54 deliveries against the Scorchers on Wednesday increasing his lead as the competition’s top run scorer.

Buttler and Thunder teammate Joe Root will play two more matches for the men in green before they head overseas for England’s tour of the Caribbean, which gets underway with a three Test series starting later this month.

After making his Test debut in 2014, Buttler finally nailed down his spot in the side last year with 760 runs at an average of 44.70, including a maiden century against India in Nottingham. 

His impressive form with the bat has been matched by his stellar showings with the gloves, and his performances in Australia over the past few weeks should have English tails wagging ahead of this year’s World Cup and Ashes.

“The last year is the best I’ve ever played for a prolonged period of time,” Buttler said following the Thunder’s one-run win over the Perth Scorchers.

“I’ve had some great experiences over the last year, and I’m probably at an age now where I understand my own game a lot better and I’m just trying to keep learning.

“I’ve had some great opportunities and met some fantastic people who I’ve learned a lot about cricket from. Over time you learn a lot more about yourself, so I’m trying to take that confidence into games.

“I’ve got a lot of confidence and quite a bit of clarity as well. That’s always something you fight with a little bit in the game. There’s that constant battle of trying to improve, but not losing what you’ve got and that kind of thing.

“It gives you a lot of clarity and you can make peace with it because this is what I’ve got, and I’m going to be the best version of myself and not get too caught up in what other people try to do. I’m just trying to enjoy my game and not have any expectations either.”

Buttler could be forgiven for having one eye on the big tournaments later in 2019, but the Englishman says his focus is solely on the Thunder and helping them in his final two matches against the Melbourne Stars and Brisbane Heat.

“For me, I’m here as a Sydney Thunder player and it’s about winning the Big Bash,” he said.

“Of course, you may learn things that are great for you further down the line, but your thought process is about the here and now and playing in this tournament. It’s tough to plan ahead too far in cricket, and the nature of sport is very much the here and now for me.”

While his knock against the Scorchers came to an unceremonious end as he hit his own wicket attempting a reverse sweep off the bowling of paceman Jhye Richardson, Buttler dazzled the large crowd at Spotless Stadium with some inventive stroke play that had the fans in raptures.

The opener ramped Jason Behrendorff for six early in the innings and then played an audacious ‘reverse slap’ off Nathan Coulter-Nile that had to be seen to be believed.

“It’s a bit of a reverse slap, top edge,” he laughed when asked to describe the shot.

“It’s good fun. Cricket is great because you can be so creative, and how I see the game, I love that side of it. I enjoy practising and doing those things in the middle.

“You’re just trying to assess all the conditions and trying to find a boundary. I practise a lot of different shots; it’s one of my favourite things in practice is trying to do new things and trying to master different shots.

“I like to have as many options to call upon as I can, and today I felt like I kept trying things that weren’t quite working, and you get to a point where you come up with that maybe being the best shot at the time.”