Lancashire's Jos Buttler is set to succeed Eoin Morgan

Lancashire’s Jos Buttler looks the prime candidate to take on England’s white-ball captaincy when World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan announces his retirement from international cricket on Tuesday.
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Reports suggest Morgan, 35, will officially call time on his England career, with Red Rose wicketkeeper-batsman Buttler primed to take over as skipper of the Twenty20 and ODI teams.

Morgan, who oversaw the transformation of England’s white-ball side from also-rans in 2015 to 50-over world champions at Lord’s four years later, has been struggling for form and fitness in recent times.

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He led a one-day series in the Netherlands this month but was dismissed twice for nought in high-scoring matches before missing the concluding game with a groin niggle. Morgan had hoped to stay the course long enough for one last tilt at the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia this October, a final shot at unifying cricket’s two biggest trophies, but he has now accepted his time is up.

Jos Buttler hits the ball to the boundary during the 1st One Day International between Netherlands and England at VRA Cricket Ground (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)Jos Buttler hits the ball to the boundary during the 1st One Day International between Netherlands and England at VRA Cricket Ground (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
Jos Buttler hits the ball to the boundary during the 1st One Day International between Netherlands and England at VRA Cricket Ground (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

Buttler’s first assignment will be a high-profile series against India, comprising three T20s and three ODIs starting on July 7, before the same against South Africa.

Dublin-born Morgan began his international career with his native Ireland in 2006 but switched his allegiance to England in 2009. The left-hander went on to play 16 Tests, scoring two centuries, but did not cement a place in the five-day side and went on to be seen as a limited-overs specialist.

He was catapulted into the captaincy when Sir Alastair Cook was sacked on the eve of the 2015 World Cup.

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The tournament was a debacle, with England knocked out in the group stages, but Morgan was identified by then director of cricket Sir Andrew Strauss as the man to reboot an ailing team.

Alongside new head coach Trevor Bayliss, he ushered in a new generation of players and established England as the standard bearers for attacking limited-overs cricket. The project culminated in dramatic fashion at the home of cricket in 2019, with Ben Stokes’ heroics and a tied super over against New Zealand in the World Cup final, as England triumphed on boundary countback.

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