England’s golden sapling has been underperforming in
South Africa but it would be silly to apply normal rules to one of the sport’s most thrilling talentsSpoiler alert: it’s Joe Denly next. And then Zak Crawley. Then, it’ll be time for Ben Stokes to be taken down a peg. Then probably Dom Sibley. Then, sometime next summer, Rory Burns or Jofra Archer. Then Denly again. Welcome to the
England Test team in 2020, a toxic chalice of confected jeopardy in which somebody must always be in crisis. Somebody – anybody – must always be hovering just above the trapdoor.
Right now, it’s Jos Buttler. Poor Jos: England’s golden sapling (and, just six months ago, their presumptive next captain in all formats) withered to a sad husk. Even as England cruised to a comfortable victory over South Africa, Buttler emitted the heavy-headed dolour of a man who suspects his time may be at hand.