In May, after 114 Tests, 228 ODIs and 78 IT20s, AB de Villiers, the greatest batsman of his generation, announced his retirement from international cricket. Three days later, Jos Buttler walked out to bat at Lord’s against Pakistan, returning to Test cricket after an 18-month hiatus during which he played just four red-ball matches. The timing was neat.

More than any other, de Villiers refined the innovation and aggression in batting which became the hallmark of the subsequent generation, none of whom resemble the South African quite as closely as Buttler.

Indeed, Buttler has spoken publicly of de Villiers as an inspiration for his batting, and has made his ambitions clear: “That’s the role I want to play in English cricket”.

Killers at the death

It’s the death (last 10 overs in ODIs) where Buttler and de Villiers stand out most of all. Since the Englishman’s ODI debut, de Villiers is the only man to score faster than Buttler at the death.

The gulf between de Villiers and the chasing pack is remarkable, but Buttler is still leading that group. He is the closest thing de Villiers has had to a competitor in recent times, and his superior dismissal rate suggests that whilst the South African may be more destructive, Buttler is harder to stop.

So, for English fans approaching a World Cup in need of a talisman – how close to de Villiers can Buttler get? Using CricViz data as a guide, here are the key areas in which Buttler can take his game to the next level.

HOW CAN BUTTLER REACH AB?

1. Lose the gloves

The strain of keeping, even in a 50-over match, is detrimental to batting performance. When keeping in ODIs, de Villiers’ batting average was a strong 48.89; when not keeping, it leapt to a stratospheric 69.00. Buttler’s numbers to date suggest this relationship could be the same for the Englishman. In List A cricket, Buttler averages 43.08 when he keeps wicket, and 57.42 when he doesn’t, also scoring marginally faster without the gloves than with them.

Jonny Bairstow needs to take the gloves. The Yorkshireman is in electrifying form with the bat, and many may be wary of disrupting him. But Bairstow is a streaky player, as shown by his diminished Test returns of recent, and his ceiling as an ODI batsman is lower than Buttler’s. By having Bairstow take the gloves in this format of the game, England could be maximising Buttler’s effectiveness for years to come.

2. Move up the order

Despite the aesthetic and technical similarities between de Villiers and Buttler, they have rarely performed the same role. 131 of de Villiers’ ODI innings have come at No.4, more than in any other position, whilst most of Buttler’s innings have come at No.6. England may have revolutionised their ODI batting, but Buttler has been consistently used as a finisher – albeit a floating finisher – in recent times.

Yet on those occasions when Buttler has batted at No.4, he’s averaged 56.33. AB averages 53.11 batting there.

Of course, Buttler has a good record when facing spin, averaging 53.26 and scoring at 6.31rpo, faster than de Villiers. Spin is not a weak area for him. However, whilst the South African might not score as quickly, he is harder to tie down, as shown by a notably lower dot-ball percentage. In order to bat up the order, Buttler will need to resist being stymied by the slower bowlers; being able to sweep the same delivery to either the leg-side, or the off-side, would be an excellent addition to his considerable bag of tricks.