Jos Buttler has brought the worst kept secret in English cricket to a close by confirming he is joining Lancashire after leaving Somerset at the end of the county season.
England’s 23-year-old one-day wicketkeeper grew increasingly frustrated by his lack of opportunities with the gloves at Somerset, where Craig Kieswetter is regarded as their No 1, and decided to move on rather than sign a new deal at Taunton.
English: Jos Buttler keeping wicket during a County Championship match for Somerset against Essex at the County Ground, Taunton. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
“I’m delighted to be joining Lancashire,” said Buttler, who has played 19 one-day internationals and 25 Twenty20 Internationals for England. “The club has an exceptional coaching staff which will help me to continue to develop as a keeper-batsman.
“Old Trafford is a world class venue and has tremendous state-of-the-art facilities for cricketers. I really enjoyed playing there earlier this month for England and hope to be involved in next year’s One Day International against Sri Lanka.
“Lancashire have a talented group of players who will be looking to challenge for all three competitions. They have been there or thereabouts in recent seasons in the t20 competition and I know for certain they will want to make a mark in the NatWest T20 next year.”
He is due to fly out to Australia this winter, where he will be able to get to know new team-mate Simon Kerrigan with England’s Performance Programme squad and can look forward to working with Peter Moores, Lancashire’s coach, who is also a former wicketkeeper.
“It’s great news Jos will be joining us and he will become part of a highly competitive squad,” added Moores. “His style of cricket will add value to the team in all formats of the game and his potential as a player is very exciting.”
Lancashire chose to release Gareth Cross, their No 1 wicketkeeper for the past two seasons, at the end of last season but also have Alex Davies, their 19-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman, on their books. Davies is expected to be given further first team opportunities when Buttler is on international duty.
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