England star leaves the biosecure bubble in Southampton to be with his family, ruling him out of the third T20 against Australia
Buttler to miss final T20 for family reasons
England star Jos Buttler will miss the third T20 against Australia for family reasons.
England announced on Monday that the wicketkeeper-batsman, who scored a match-winning 77 not out in the second match of the series on Sunday, has left the biosecure bubble in Southampton to be with his family.
Subject to COVID-19 testing, it's expected he will re-join his teammates on Thursday ahead of the three-match ODI series against the Aussies in Manchester.
Buttler's absence from the series finale could open the door for Brisbane Heat star Tom Banton to move up the order and fill his regular opening role.
One of Sam Billings or Joe Denly is expected to come into the side in Buttler's absence.
"He's probably their best batter in white-ball cricket at the moment so it's certainly an advantage for us that he’s not playing," said Australian allrounder Ashton Agar, who added his best wishes to Buttler and his family.
"But they've got a deep squad so whoever comes in and fills his position, while it's difficult to replicate Jos Buttler, they're still going to be very good."
England lead the T20 series 2-0 and while the series is over, the world No.1 ranking will be on the line in the third match on Tuesday night UK time (Wednesday 3am AEST).
2020 Tour of England
Australia's T20 and ODI squad: Aaron Finch (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Riley Meredith, Josh Philippe, Daniel Sams, Kane Richardson, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa
England T20I squad: Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonathan Bairstow, Tom Banton, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Joe Denly, Chris Jordan, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood. Reserves: Liam Livingstone, Saqib Mahmood
England ODI squad: Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonathan Bairstow, Tom Banton, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood. Reserves: Joe Denly, Saqib Mahmood
First T20: England won by two runs
Second T20: England won by six wickets with seven balls to spare
September 8:3rd T20, Southampton, 3am AEST Sept 9
September 11:1st ODI, Old Trafford, 10pm AEST
September 13:2nd ODI, Old Trafford, 10pm AEST
September 16:3rd ODI, Old Trafford, 10pm AEST