Mark Ramprakash, who’s served as England’s batting coach in the past, questioned Jos Buttler‘s approach in the longer format and England’s overall strategy and selection policy saying he’s “never seen Jos comfortable with his method in Test cricket”.

While dissecting Buttler’s dismissal on day one of the third Ashes Test in Melbourne, Ramprakash told BT Sport that England have deeply suffered from a lack of clarity in their gameplan and strategy.

“Jos Buttler, to me, has never been clear [on his gameplan],” he said, “I have never seen him comfortable with his method in Test cricket. Jonny Bairstow is batting at six, so he is batting in front of Buttler. When you must think he’s a better batsman than Buttler, why hasn’t he got the gloves? That to me, again, is muddled thinking. Bairstow has six Test hundreds, Buttler’s two, so there’s this muddled selection policy and lack of strategy about England at the moment. I could go on.”

Buttler earned plaudits for his 207-ball 26 in the fourth innings of the previous Test in Adelaide, showing commendable resistance in England’s failed attempt to push for a draw. On the opening day of the MCG Test, Buttler had ambled to 3 off 10 balls by the stroke of tea, before he came down the track in an attempt to take on Nathan Lyon, only managing to hole out to deep midwicket.

The dismissal left England at 128-6, with the tourists eventually folding for 185.

Ramprakash called Buttler’s decision to take on Lyon “purely mental”.

“I suppose Jonny would have been thinking,” Ramprakash said, “‘Jos was the last recognised batsman that he could put on a significant partnership with really’, or who has the credentials to do that. So it would have been very disappointing from that standpoint. And, I guess, in disbelief as to what has gone on because any club cricketer would tell you: just before an over or a session comes to an end, you just try and see it out.

“Okay, someone as talented as Jos Buttler, perhaps he might come down the wicket and look for a single in a gap, which he is perfectly capable of, but seems like the little man on his shoulder was saying: ‘Go, have a go, hit it into the stand’, and that little man won and he came racing down, Lyon bowled the ball more on a line which meant that it wasn’t going to go straight back over the bowler’s head, it was going to drag onto the leg-side. And Jos decided to go through with the shot.

“That is a purely mental decision and yet we saw at the end on Friday [Adelaide], that he faced over 200 balls and denied himself this sort of instinctive strokeplay that we’re so used to. And he came today and sort of almost went on to make up for it. Decision making, pure and simple is a mental game, it’s not down to talent or technique, and as good as Australia have been, England, clearly today, have contributed to where they lie.”

Ramprakash went on to talk about other batters in the lineup, saying that the team needs to be “absolutely clear in their gameplan”, and how they want to execute it.

“What is important is that, at this level, with players of this quality, that they’re clear when they walk over the white line, that they’re absolutely clear in their gameplan, their template and how they want to go out and play”.

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