Steve Harmison has questioned whether Jos Buttler is still enjoying cricket for England and suggests the veteran batsman needs to look in the mirror and decide if he wants to continue representing his country at international level.
Buttler has endured a miserable campaign in the T20 World Cupmanaging only 87 runs in eight innings. Widely regarded as England’s best white-ball cricketer, the 35-year-old failed to make an impact on matches and looked a shadow of his former self throughout the tournament.
Harmison was honest in his assessment.
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“He needs to look in the mirror and say, ‘Do I really want to continue playing international cricket?’,” the former fast bowler told Talksport. “If he says, ‘Me,’ then he’ll keep playing for me. It’s just a matter of whether the ups and downs have made an impact.”
Buttler earlier stepped down as England’s limited-overs captain after a run of disappointing results, but was sidelined due to his position in the game. He played a central role in England’s World Cup triumph in 2019 and their T20 title win in Australia in 2022, and his contributions over the past decade have been significant.
Harmison believes Buttler deserves the right to have his own say on his future, including whether he fancies another full tournament cycle ahead of the 2027 World Cup in South Africa.
“I think Jos deserves the right to think, ‘Do I have one more cycle left in me to get to the next tournament?'” Harmison said.
But it was clear to the former England seamer that only Buttler could answer that question.
“Only Jos can answer that and he should be allowed to. But I’m just looking at Jos and I’m not sure he’s enjoying playing cricket for England at the moment.”
Harmison added that Buttler’s passion for the game seems to be fading.
“If the candle is just flickering and not quite there, which doesn’t seem to be a factor in the enjoyment of the last year or so, then maybe it’s time for Jos to say: ‘I’ve given my time, I’ve given everything for England, I’ve been England’s best white-ball player and now it’s time for someone else to take over.’
Should Buttler decide to retire, he would do so as England’s all-time leading cricketer across all formats, with 411 caps to his name. With 4,037 runs, he is England’s highest run-scorer in T20s and third on the ODI list with 5,515 runs.
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Published on:
06 March 2026 16:40 IST
