England vs West Indies: England coach Silverwood backs Jos Butler despite his bad form

After a humiliating loss against the West Indies in the first Test match, England’s selectors and skipper Ben Stokes received criticisms from the fans as well as the game pundits for the team selection. One such player who was under the scanner of everyone was the wicket-keeper Jos Butler, who has been struggling in scoring runs since the World Cup 2019. 

But in the midst of all the criticism, England coach Chris Silverwood has casted his support for Butler, stressing on how good he looked during the first test where he scored 35 and 46 runs respectively. 

Silverwood opined that if given a chance in the remaining matches, it will give him “the best chance to succeed” and retain his form. 

Butler has been struggling to pile up runs in Test matches as he has not scored a single half-century in the last 12 test innings. Darren Gough, former England pacer had also said that if Butler does not perform in this Test series, it could be the end of his Test career. 

“I’m not going to go down that road yet of putting Jos under pressure, because I don’t think it’s going to help him. So, first and foremost, we want to give Jos the best opportunity to succeed,” England coach was quoted as saying to Cricket Australia in Butler’s support. 

The 45-year-old Silverwood believes that the key is to back the World Cup-winning wicketkeeper and help him regain confidence. Silverwood also backed the youngster Joe Denly, who did not impress in the first match, and chances are he won’t be a part of the side during the second Test since the regular skipper Joe Root will be taking the no. 3 spot. 

“We’re all desperate to see Joe do really well. We can see he’s trying hard, he’s training hard. He’s a great bloke hence why we all went to see him do well, but obviously he’s under pressure a little bit, yeah,” Silverwood said.

The second test match between England vs West Indies will take place from July 16-20 at the Old Trafford Cricket Ground.