I want to be England's AB de Villiers, says Jos Buttler after stunning display

Jos Buttler produced a breathtaking display in the first ODI

England wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler has spoken of his desire to emulate South African great AB de Villiers following his knock of 129 from just 77 balls, including 13 fours and 5 sixes, that gave a new-look England an emphatic 210-run victory over New Zealand in the first ODI at Edgbaston, Birmingham, on Tuesday. Coming in at 180 for 4, Buttler displayed his brute force and versatility as he carted the Kiwi bowlers literally all around the park.

He brought up his hundred off just 66 balls, thereby helping England surpass a total of 400 for the first time in their ODI history. He has also earned the distinction of having scored the two fastest ODI hundreds by an Englishman, with his 100 off 61 balls against Sri Lanka at Lord’s last year being the fastest ever.

Speaking after the match, Buttler said: “AB De Villiers is someone who has changed batting over the past few years and everyone is trying to emulate him. He has been a role model for me for a long time and that’s the role I want to play in English cricket.”

While Buttler still has a long way to go to match De Villiers’ class in Test cricket, he has shown in the recent past that he can be explosive as anyone in the world when it comes to the shorter formats.

“I want to be that guy who can go out I like I did at Edgbaston and play those kinds of innings consistently. Part of my role as vice-captain is to try to lead this group. The way we went about it breeds a lot of confidence in the squad,” he added.

“I was looking at the number of caps everyone had. [Captain] Eoin Morgan has the most (142) but then Joe Root (55) and Steve Finn (58) are pretty similar to me (Buttler has 56 caps). The other young guys are the same age as me but they are very fresh into international cricket.

“Players like Jason Roy and Sam Billings might have missed out at Edgbaston, but I’m sure we’ll see great displays from them as well. They will take the confidence from the team performance into the rest of the series.”

We have the freedom to play attacking cricket: Buttler

England’s record-breaking batting display on Tuesday was a far cry from their shambolic World Cup campaign where a lot of the batsmen almost seemed fearful of expressing themselves. Buttler acknowledged that they now have the freedom to play their natural games and give English fans the brand of cricket they have been craving for.

“We have a licence to play attacking cricket and it is clear that is what the public want. If we had been bowled out for 200 in 30 overs at Edgbaston, I don’t think we would have been criticised that much.

“We have a real lease of life to play that way. English cricket has accepted that we can do it and that is a big change. If we weren’t going to have a swing at Edgbaston, when the public wanted it.

“I’m sure we will have some big challenges, especially in this series against a top side who will come back, keep fighting and play aggressively,” he concluded.