Livingstone to captain England with Buttler ruled out

All-rounder Liam Livingstone will captain England during their white-ball tour of the 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, though remains in the squad as skipper for the five-match T20 series that follows.

Uncapped Essex wicketkeeper 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 T20 World Cup exit, Buttler sustained 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 because of his involvement in the Test tour of Pakistan.

Jos Buttler (Lancashire – captain) T20 series only, Jofra Archer (Sussex), Jacob Bethell (Warwickshire), Jafer Chohan (Yorkshire), Sam Curran (Surrey), Will Jacks (Surrey), Liam Livingstone (Lancashire), Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire), Dan Mousley (Warwickshire), Jamie Overton (Surrey), Michael Pepper (Essex), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Phil Salt (Lancashire), Reece Topley (Surrey), John Turner (Hampshire)

*Two further players to be added from Test squad currently in Pakistan.

One-day international series

First ODI: Thursday, 31 October, 18:00 GMT (Antigua)

Second ODI: Saturday, 2 November, 13:30 (Antigua)

Third ODI: Wednesday, 6 November, 18:00 (Barbados)

T20 series (all 20:00)

First T20: Saturday, 9 November (Barbados)

Second T20: Sunday, 10 November (Barbados)

Third T20: Thursday, 14 November (St. Lucia)

Fourth T20: Saturday, 16 November (St. Lucia)

Fifth T20: Sunday, 17 November (St. Lucia)