Livingstone to captain England with Buttler ruled out


All-rounder Liam Livingstone will captain England during their white-ball tour of West Indies after Jos Buttler suffered a setback in his recovery from a calf injury.

Buttler, 34, has not played since the T20 World Cup in June and will miss the three one-day internationals in the Caribbean, although he remains in the squad as skipper for the five-match T20 series that follows.

Uncapped Essex wicketkeeper-batter Michael Pepper has been added to the ODI squad while Livingstone, 31, will lead England for the first time in the ODI series in Buttler's absence.

It caps a remarkable turnaround for Livingstone who was initially left out of the ODI squad to play Australia last month before being called up to replace the injured Buttler.

The all-rounder, part of England's T20 World Cup-winning squad in 2022, has captained Lancashire in the T20 Blast and Birmingham Phoenix in The Hundred.

England describe Buttler's setback as "slight" but his injury is becoming increasingly worrying.

Despite not playing since England's exit at the T20 World Cup, Buttler suffered his third calf injury since 2021 during the summer.

He was initially ruled out of The Hundred but, having been retained as captain, was picked in England's squads to play Australia last month.

Buttler then pulled out of the T20 series because of the issue and targeted a return for the five ODIs, only to also withdraw.

Harry Brook captained England in the ODI series against Australia when Buttler was ruled out, but is not part of the squad for this tour due to his involvement in the Test tour of Pakistan.

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