Root's inspiration driving Buttler on

JOS Buttler is looking to Joe Root for inspiration as he looks to flourish in his “new phase” as a former England captain.

- By RORY DOLLARD

Buttler stepped down as leader of England’s white-ball team earlier this year after two disappointing World Cup campaigns, passing the baton to Harry Brook over the summer.

With his 35th birthday just around the corner, he could easily have walked away entirely in pursuit of guaranteed riches as a full-time franchise freelancer.

But he remains committed to following the lead of Root, who has scored 14 hundreds and averaged 58 since being replaced as Test skipper by Ben Stokes.

“It’s not that I wasn’t enjoying my cricket before, but I obviously wasn’t enjoying the way it was going,” he told the PA news agency. Part of the challenge of cricket is trying to come through that, being resilient and getting out the other end.