Brendon McCullum thinks Jos Buttler can succeed in Test cricket; he plans to talk to Adil Rashid, Moeen Ali and Liam Livingstone about whether they want to be part of England’s red ball revamp. watch England vs New Zealand live on Sky Sports from Thursday
Moeen Ali (left) is currently retired from Test Cricket, while Adil Rashid (right) has not played a red ball match since January 2019.
New Test manager Brendon McCullum says he could try to bring Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid back to the England red ball squad and there may also be a place for Liam Livingstone.
Batsman-keeper Buttler was dropped by England after averaging 15.28 during last winter’s Ashes and has scored just two hundred in 100 Test innings throughout his career.
The 31-year-old has set the IPL on fire this season, scoring four centuries and 824 runs in total for Rajasthan Royals ahead of Sunday’s final against Gujarat Titans live. Sky sports.
The multi-talented Moeen retired from Test cricket last September, while the leg-spinning Adil Rashid has not played a red ball game since January 2019 as he prioritizes white ball cricket.
Lancashire batsman Livingstone has appeared in 20 white-ball internationals for England but has yet to play a Test match.
On Buttler, McCullum said: “Jos is one of those players that you instantly look at and think how he can be so dominant in one form of the game and not have found his place, apart from a few fleeting performances, in Test Cricket?
“There’s no reason why if you’re good at T20 you can’t bring those skills to Test cricket.
“Certainly there are guys out there that you look at and think there’s a lot of talent that could make the team better if given the right opportunity. It’s just a matter of trying to identify how they’re going to do that.”
“I’m sure if Mo [Moeen Ali] wanted [play Test cricket] and he was prepared to put up the yards to get back to the side and then he would challenge him, no doubt.
“Livingstone, Moeen, Rashid. All these guys have played international cricket before, they’ve been successful in the other forms of the game and you’d think they could transition but we’ll see.
“I look at them and I think there will be a time when they can have a chance if they invest enough.
“There’s probably been a little bit of pain at times for those guys as well, because they’ve been on the team at times and then off the team at times and there hasn’t been that persistence for them.
“I’m not sure you’re going to play someone like Rashid every game, every year anyway. He might not even be interested, so we might be talking about something we don’t need.”
“But my mindset is that if they are the best cricketers, why not have a conversation and see where it goes?
“If we’re playing an attractive brand of cricket, we’re successful and people are behind what we’re doing, then that might spark some of those guys’ interest a bit. We’ll build it first, then we’ll see.”
On Livingstone, who has only briefly played red-ball cricket in recent years due to his white-ball commitments, McCullum added: “There needs to be a conversation about what your appetite is for Test cricket. If you are interested in playing then How does it look getting into the side?
“Just because you’re a good cricketer doesn’t mean you’re automatically selected. You still have to earn the right to be able to do it.”
“I don’t have any preconceived thoughts about whether he’s good enough or not. I just look at him and think he’s a very good cricketer and I think he’s worth having a conversation about.”
McCullum’s first test in charge of England is against his native New Zealand at Lord’s from Thursday – watch that game live on Sky Sports Cricket from 10am.
