Darren Gough opines on Buttler's dipping form, says he has just 2 games to save his career

England's stand-in vice skipper Jos Buttler did not have the best of the start in the series opener against West Indies at Southampton and former cricketer Darren Gough believes the wicketkeeper-batsman has got just a couple of chances left to save his Test career. With scores of 35 and 9 runs respectively, Buttler failed to impress the selectors, alongside putting his position in the side up for contention, considering the cut-throat competition in the England camp. The hosts are eyeing redemption as the Men in Maroon picked up a win in the first Test at Ageas Bowl, making Stokes the first skipper to lose the opening game of a tour in the UK since Vaughan did in 2003.

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'Two Test matches to save his career'

Former England player Darrem Gough opined that Buttler only had a couple of matches more to prove his mantle and 'save his Test career'. Gough pointed out that despite Buttler being a terrific talent and possessing the best shote ij the book, it was impossible for a batsman to fail with such consistency in Test cricket and that it had to be done away with. The former England cricketer also emphasized on the need to make the right call on picking players according to the conditions and not get too 'funky' about the choices. Gough also labeled Joe Denly as a lucky boy who got selected for the role of an opener despite three other tip contenders who had centuries to their names in Test cricket.

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" Buttler has got two Test matches to save his career, for me," Gough, who has picked 229 wickets in 58 Tests for England, told Sky Sports Cricket.

"He's a terrific talent, lots of kids look up to him and he has all the shots. But, in Test cricket, you can't just keep getting out and that's what he keeps doing", Gough added.

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Gough also opined on the choice of picking Jofra Archer ahead of veteran pacer Stuart Broad and feels that the latter would make it back into the playing XI for the second Test. Further, Gough rooted for rotating Mark wood and Jofra Archer for the remainder of the games and named Broad, Woakes, and Anderson as the reliable three. The former England cricketer admitted that it wasn't going to be easy for Jofra Archer to bowl at threatening pace consistently and that the Barbados-born pacer & Wood would 'blow away the opposition' on their day. 

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