“I’m going to stand down as England captain,” Buttler said. “It’s the right decision for me and the right decision for the team. Hopefully somebody else who can come in alongside Baz [Brendon McCullum] will take the team to where it needs to be.”

Buttler was appointed as Eoin Morgan’s successor in June 2022 and won the T20 World Cup in Australia later that year. But England’s results have declined sharply since and after three unsuccessful ICC events in a row – the 2023 50-over World Cup, the 2024 T20 World Cup and the 2025 Champions Trophy – Buttler has decided to stand down.

He hinted after England’s eight-run loss to Afghanistan on Wednesday – their ninth defeat in 10 white-ball games this year – that he would resign, saying he needed to “consider all possibilities” and work out whether he was “part of the problem or part of the solution.”

Harry Brook, Buttler’s vice-captain, is the favourite to succeed him.

More to follow…