“He doesn’t have that presence in the field” - Former captain’s brutal attack on Jos Buttler after AFG vs ENG 2025 Champions Trophy match

Former England skipper Nasser Hussain has made a candid statement on Jos Buttler's captaincy after their Champions Trophy 2025 exit. Hussain doesn't feel the veteran gives the same leadership vibe as Eoin Morgan.

The keeper-batter had succeeded Morgan as England's limited-overs skipper but his position seems untenable as the side lost to Afghanistan in the Champions Trophy game on Wednesday. With Afghanistan making 325, England fell eight runs short of the target.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Hussain feels Buttler commands that popularity in the dressing room but stated that the Lancashire cricketer's job is to take the team upwards.

"I thoroughly like Jos Buttler as a human being, he is a very likeable young man, he's popular in the dressing room and everyone who has played the game with him, but it's not his job to be popular, his job is to make England better at white ball cricket. I've never looked at Buttler and thought 'wow what a leader,' he doesn't have that presence in the field that an Eoin Morgan had."

"That's a bad comparison because you're talking about England's greatest-ever white-ball captain, and he was a hard act to follow."

Although the 34-year-old succeeded in captaining England to T20 World Cup success in 2022, he has endured failures in the following three ICC events. He has also struggled with the bat in the three competitions.

"I think it's probably time to move on" - Michael Atherton on Jos Buttler

Michael Atherton. (Image Credits: Getty)

Ex-England opener Michael Atherton opined that the keeper-batter must move on as captain as the added responsibility has affected his batting. Additionally, Atherton reckons England judges themselves on the ICC events, adding:

"As far as captaincy goes, I don't think Buttler has added that much to this England team, but it's taken away from his batting. And when you add the two together, take away from a great player and you're not gaining with leadership and captaincy, I think it's probably time to move on."

"I think his time is done, actually, as captain and I think that's probably right. England do judge themselves on these ICC events, they've made that very clear, that because they come along so frequently now, they build towards these tournaments. Sometimes you just have to say it's not working and therefore it's time for a change and time for somebody else, and I think deep down, he probably knows that."

England will face South Africa on Saturday in their final group game.