Chris Jordan and Joss Buttler look to elevate themselves

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3 June 2014

England have varied bizarrely between the ridiculous and the sublime in the one-day series against Sri Lanka.

Such vagaries of form have left the sides at 2-2 meaning that today’s fifth and final match in the series at Edgbaston is the decider, which makes it much more alluring.

While Jos Buttler’s wonderful innings at Lord’s on Saturday probably deserved a better outcome for his side than defeat by seven runs, that is to overlook the mature control of Kumar Sangakkara’s hundred for Sri Lanka.

It was Sangakkara’s 19th one-day international ton and Buttler’s first. Batting at No7 he might be for the moment but at 23 Buttler, with that kind of talent, may one day approach that kind of tally.

Although today’s match has a self-contained significance for an England side at the start of a new era, it is impossible to avoid its potential wider influence. Barely will the dust have settled on the limited overs stuff than England’s squad for the First Test at Lord’s will be announced tomorrow.

Two of the one-day specialists have clear claims for elevation. The first is Chris Jordan, the Sussex fast bowler, whose ungainly run-up does not seem to affect his speed or menace. He has made himself a prime candidate to be the third seamer behind Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad and if he can unfurl a few explosive deliveries that should shortly be confirmed.

The second candidate for a debut is Buttler. Although both he and his captain, Alastair Cook, belittled his credentials for Test cricket after the Lord’s match, coach Peter Moores was much more equivocal.

“He is improving quickly and I thought he kept well so he has certainly pushed his name forward,” said Moores. “When you look back in history not every player is perfectly ready when they play. I think Jos would quite rightly say, ‘I’m not the finished article’ and he wouldn’t be — not many people are.”

That suggests the selectors, of whom Moores is one, may be prepared to gamble if Matt Prior is deemed not to be fit enough for a return to the side after struggling with a chronic Achilles injury. For those who saw Buttler on Saturday, anybody but him, in Prior’s absence, would represent selectorial silliness of the highest order.

Chris Jordan and Joss Buttler look to elevate themselves

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