Key events
Preamble
James Wallace
They called Leonard Cohen ‘The Godfather of Gloom’ and ‘The High Priest of Pathos’. Pithy nicknames but both misnomers, really. Behind the molasses and tobacco baritone and faltering flamenco Cohen was far from a miserabilist, his words often appearing as if drenched in the Hydra sun – warm, fruity, smutty, sensual.
This is about cricket you plank, what are you crapping on about? Well, bear with me for just a line or two more. I’m bringing us on to Jos Buttler.
You might know him as England’s greatest ever white ball batter, all whip-crack wrists and ice-veined composure. A player of such class and confidence he was made England’s white ball captain after Eoin Morgan hung up his armband. And yet, the F*** It famously scrawled on Buttler’s bat handle offers a glimpse into his own fragility.
As England’s results have soured and curdled so too did Buttler’s on pitch performances and off pitch demeanour. A taciturn and tetchy Buttler became the norm, his watery blue eyes darting, seeking out perceived slights, his jaw perma-clenched readying for a scrap. Any boyish charm had been lost to a sort of bristling insecurity. Captaincy and professional cricket in general can do that to you.
The discrepancy between Buttler at his shimmering, primal and pyrotechnic best and the insecure, slumped shouldered Eeyore in a Cinch branded baseball cap of recent months became quite stark. The guy looked like he needed a break and he ended up getting one, albeit because he got injured.
A calf injury has kept Buttler on the sidelines for five months, in that time Matthew Mott was given his cards and Brendon McCullum the reins – to the white ball squads in addition to the Test one. ‘Baz’ duly noted that his priority task in the role was to shake Buttler out of his “miserable” (McCullum’s word, not mine) stupor and bring back the joy. To reinvigorate Sad Eyed Jossy of The Low Scores, take a sad song and make it better, prise open a crack and let some f***** light in.
McCullum lies in wait but Jos Buttler returns to action today in Bridgetown in the first of five T20 matches against West Indies. Play begins in just over half an hour at 8PM GMT and the toss is imminent…
