England have already been eliminated from the Champions Trophy, after they lost their first two group games against Australia and Afghanistan. They prepared for the tournament with a trip to India which saw them win only one of their eight matches in Brendon McCullum’s first tour as white-ball coach.
“I’m going to stand down as England captain,” Buttler said. “It’s the right decision for me and the right decision for the team. Hopefully somebody else who can come in alongside Baz will take the team to where it needs to be.” Harry Brook, Buttler’s vice-captain, is the early favourite to replace him.
Buttler will continue to play for England, and said he wants to “get back to really enjoying my cricket”. He said: “The overriding emotions are still sadness and disappointment. I’m sure, in time, that will pass and I can get back to really enjoying my cricket, and [will] also be able to reflect on what an immense honour it is to captain your country and all the special things that come with it.”
Buttler was appointed as Eoin Morgan’s successor in June 2022 and won the T20 World Cup in Australia later that year. But England’s results have declined sharply since and after three unsuccessful ICC events in a row – the 2023 50-over World Cup, the 2024 T20 World Cup and the 2025 Champions Trophy – Buttler has decided to stand down.
“It was quite clear that this tournament was going to be important: results-wise and for my captaincy,” Buttler said. “Two losses and being out of the tournament [was] a bit of a hangover of tournaments before. I’d just reached the end of the road for me and my captaincy, which is a shame and I’m sad about that.
“With Brendon coming in only recently, I was really excited to work closely alongside him and hope for a very quick turnaround and to take the team forward. But it’s not quite worked out that way, so just feels like the right time for me and the team to have a change.”
Buttler’s position came under increasing scrutiny after a sustained poor run of ODI form for England stretching back to the start of the 2023 World Cup. In defence of their World Cup title, England won just three group games out of nine and were the first team to be officially eliminated from the tournament. It began a run that has seen them lose 18 of the last 25 ODIs, including the two that put paid to their Champions Trophy campaign at the first hurdle.
Brook is tipped to succeed him, though McCullum said England had not yet settled on a candidate. He praised Buttler’s leadership while saying he was “incredibly sad” to see him step down.
“We’ve all seen over the last couple of years how much he’s invested in captaining his country and trying to get very best out of those guys around him,” McCullum said. “People forget that he literally won a World Cup only a couple of years ago, and that can never be taken away from him. It’s incredibly unselfish from Jos to step aside and to leave the post for someone else, and he’s still a huge player for us moving forward. I’m sure we will look at ways that we can get the best out of him in terms of his role, so he can have maximum impact as well”