Sawt Falasteen - England's Cox says injured Buttler leaves 'big shoes to fill'

England will be without wicketkeeper-batsman Buttler for the third and deciding one-day international in south London after he was struck down by a hamstring injury during Thursday's run-chase at Headingley, which helped Sri Lanka level the series.

Amid the upheaval caused by the shock international retirement of former Test captain Ben Stokes and the sacking of Brendon McCullum as England's red-ball coach -- the ex-New Zealand skipper remains in charge of the limited-overs teams, Cox has been establishing himself in the national set-up.

The 25-year-old scored three fifties during England's 3-0 Test whitewash of Pakistan after replacing the sidelined Jacob Bethell at number three and he also impressed behind the stumps during the series finale at Edgbaston when first-choice wicketkeeper Jamie Smith was injured.

Cox, who also featured in the recent 3-0 clean sweep of Sri Lanka, is now set to take over the gloves from World Cup-winner Buttler, one of the outstanding white-ball batsmen of his generation.

"If I do get that opportunity it will be awesome," Cox said Saturday. "You've got to look forward to the challenge. They're big shoes to fill, for sure –- Jos is probably the best ever white-ball cricketer we've produced.

"He's definitely someone I've looked up to so from watching him on TV to being in a squad with him is pretty amazing, just knowing the calm nature he has and the presence around the dressing room."

It is a measure of Cox progress's that he has gone from being a fringe England player to appearing in all three formats in little more than a month.

He believes he is now better equipped for the rigours of England than when he made his international debut in 2024.

"I was young, you don't really understand what it means to play for England," he said.

"Now I've had time away, two years of not being able to play and seeing other people do well for England, and you go, 'I really want a slice of that'.

"It's something I really wanted to do, I wanted people to be able to trust me – even in that number three spot when Beth (Bethell) was unfortunately injured –- for people to say, 'he's taken it with both hands'.

"I feel like I've done that."

L.Hussein--SF-PST