‘Won’t survive as captain’ – Michael Vaughan makes candid remark on Jos Buttler after England’s exit from Champions Trophy

England have been knocked out of Champions Trophy 2025 after their loss to Afghanistan on Wednesday. Former England skipper Michael Vaughan has cast aspersions over Jos Buttler’s future as the team’s captain in the white-ball format. England had come into the tournament on the back of their 3-0 ODI series loss to India. 

Vaughan in his column for Telegraph as quoted by Sportskeeda wrote, “Given he has been part of three failed ICC tournaments in a row, Jos Buttler won’t survive as captain. The 50-over World Cup was a complete shemozzle for many reasons, then the T20 in the Caribbean was limp, and cost Matthew Mott his job.”

The former English captain also wrote, “This time, with another defeat to Afghanistan, Buttler will be the scapegoat. But let’s not kid ourselves that it will suddenly change everything, because England’s problems run much deeper."

Has Jos Buttler failed to replicate Eoin Morgan’s success?

One of the key reasons behind Buttler’s appointment was that he was seen as a natural successor to Eoin Morgan. The former English captain changed the way the three lions played white ball cricket and made them into World Cup winners in 2019. Buttler over saw England get knocked in the group phase of 2023 ODI World Cup. This was followed by semi-finals loss to India in 2024 T20 World Cup. 

Michael Vaughan opined, “We probably didn’t fully appreciate the impact of Eoin Morgan, or the brilliance of his combination with Trevor Bayliss. They whacked it with the bat, but they were smart with bat and ball. Now, it’s just run in and bowl as fast as you can."

The former England captain also wrote, “England give off the impression that they are the opposite. Brendon McCullum has been charged with bringing a great vibe and going on gut feel, but is that the answer? They have united the coaches, the backroom team and now the players.”

“Before 2019, we used to pack the Test team with white-ball players. Now we pack the white-ball team with Test players! We need some dedicated white-ball players, dedicated Test players, then a small group of maybe three or four who command a place in all formats," Michael Vaughan added.