England ODI and T20I captain Jos Buttler resigned on Friday, 28 February 2025.
Buttler’s resignation has come a day prior to England’s Champions Trophy fixture against South Africa. This ODI against the Proteas will be Buttler’s last as captain.
“I’m going to stand down as England captain,” said Buttler.
“It’s the right decision for me and the right decision for the team. Hopefully somebody else who can come in alongside coach Brendon McCullum will take the team to where it needs to be.
“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.”
Earlier this week, England lost to Afghanistan. The defeat removed England from contention for a berth in the semi-final stage of the Champions Trophy. They had also lost to Australia in the same tournament.
“It was quite clear that this tournament was going to be important – results-wise and for my captaincy,” added Buttler. “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 has not quite worked out that way, so just feels like the right time for me and the team to have a change.”
Buttler succeeded former ODI and T20I captain Eoin Morgan in June 2022 – and won the T20 World Cup title with England in the same year.
McCullum added: “We’ve all seen over the last couple of years how much Jos has invested in captaining his country and trying to get very best out of those guys around him.
“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.
“This news is still pretty fresh. We have got time after this tournament as we go into the English summer so we can work out who the right person is to take over from Jos as captain.”
Batsman Harry Brook is currently England’s ODI vice-captain.