"I'm sure having a game under their belts and getting back into the rhythm of a Test match will help going into this game and for the rest of the summer. I expect that to go up another notch this week"
Friday 17 July 2020 20:17, UK
England captain Joe Root has backed Jos Buttler to transfer his electric white-ball record into Test cricket, despite a lean run with the bat in the longest form.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Buttler averages over 40 in one-day international cricket with his nine centuries including England's two fastest in the format, off 46 and 50 balls against Pakistan.
However, he has managed just one ton in his 42 Tests and is averaging 21.38 over the last 12 months with only one fifty in his previous 21 innings heading into Thursday's second #raisethebat Test against West Indies.
On Buttler, who scored 35 and nine in last week's four-wicket defeat to West Indies in the series opener, Root said: "I know we are in a results business and are judged on performances, but in the first innings I think Jos played technically as well as he has for a long time.
"I think his game is in a good place and it's only a matter of time before we see some of those special innings and performances that we have seen in white-ball cricket transfer across.
"He is a big part of our group. He is a great thinker about the game, a big senior player in the dressing room across the formats and I feel he is not far away from grabbing Test cricket and really running with it. I have seen big strides with him off the field in terms of his technical game.
"You just want him to find that balance and mindset that he can have in white-ball cricket and add it to what is definitely a technique and game that can thrive in Test cricket."
Root missed the first Test to attend the birth of his second child - Ben Stokes stepping up to captain in his absence - and admits there were periods where he wished he was with his side.
The 29-year-old felt watching from afar that England were a little rusty but was impressed with the resolve they showed to battle back into the game having been 114 runs behind after first innings.
Away from the cricket side of things it was really special to have that week and a bit at home with the family and something I will savour for the rest of my life. First time round [with Alfie] I had two days at home and had to fly to India and it was five or six weeks before I saw him again.
Root said: "It was quite hard in some ways - you want to be there, want to be involved. Having played 80-odd games on the bounce it was quite difficult to sit there and not really affect things.
"You are fully fit and feel like you could be out there and a strange set of circumstance have stopped you. At times, I would have loved to have been there. At the same time, I think Ben did a brilliant job. He had some very difficult decisions and he managed them well.
"I don't want to be too much of an armchair critic but sat at home watching the game, [our guys] having not played a lot of cricket for a while sort of showed.
"I'm sure having a game under their belts and getting back into the rhythm of a Test match will help going into this game and for the rest of the summer. I expect that to go up another notch this week.
It’s quite frustrating. You don’t want to be behind, you want to putting a marker down early. The pleasing thing is that there have been a number of times when we have lost the first Test and still won series. That’s our challenge now.
"For the first two and half days we were probably behind the game but managed to wrestle ourselves into a position where we could win. In the past, sometimes I think we have fallen away a little bit early but in the last two sessions we still had a real chance of winning the game. That is a small step forward for us - there were lots of positives to take."
England - who have lost the first Test in eight out of their last 10 multi-match series - must now win the remaining two Tests to regain the Wisden Trophy, with West Indies holding the silverware after a 2-1 victory over Root's men in the Caribbean in early 2019.
"We know that they are a very well-oiled bowling attack and have proven in recent contests between the teams that they are more than capable of beating us," Root said of West Indies.
"They are a strong and difficult team to beat and there were a couple of times last week where they really grabbed the game and took it away from us - but we also know what we are capable of.
"One thing we have always been good at when we have had difficult games is bouncing back quickly. I expect nothing different this time around.
"The team and squad have a fantastic attitude and will be desperate to go back out and put in a strong performance hopefully worthy of winning."
Watch day one of the second #raisethebat Test live on Sky Sports Cricket and Sky Sports Main Event from 10.30am on Thursday.
