ENG vs PAK | I've found a good headspace to hang in there, asserts Jos Buttler

It was light at the end of the tunnel for Jos Buttler, who gave his fledgeling Test career a new hope, with some consistent innings in the last four Tests and backed those half-centuries by scoring a composed century in the third Test against Pakistan in Southampton. His partnership not only helped England recover from 127/4 but also an unbeaten 152 allowed Zak Crawley sufficient downtime to score a record 267 in an elegant fashion. The century has definitely bred some sort of confidence in the Lancashire man and Buttler credited the Coronavirus-induced lockdown and the subsequent break for the same.

"A couple of games ago I was thinking I was about to get dropped. I've certainly questioned myself in the last few weeks. "I really missed cricket in lockdown. I enjoyed the break, but when you come back you realise how much you want to play and how much playing for England is a pleasure. It was good to reflect on my batting and some things I needed to improve,” Buttler said in the post-match press conference, reported ESPN Cricinfo.

"I've found a good headspace to hang in there. You've got to maintain that belief in yourself and this just proves you're never far away. You're never too far away from good things or bad things. Things can change fast. It's that positive outlook and belief that you can do good things that have served me well in the last few weeks."

After having gone through 14 innings without a fifty, which includes eight consecutive innings without making 30, the former Somerset batsman has now made 67, 38, 75 and 152 in successive completed innings, making him England’s highest run-scorer this summer. While he admitted that Test cricket comes at No.3 in terms of his strength, Buttler is happy that he could prove himself that he can bat long enough.

"It's nice to prove to myself that I can bat for that long. I was just trying to make it last as long as possible. It's definitely the first time I've faced that many balls. Test cricket would be No. 3 in terms of my strength. In previous years I took a lot of confidence from white-ball cricket. Scoring runs in that format and being able to bring that confidence into Test cricket has served me well,” Buttler added.

"But it's been nice to have a real training block. It's not something you have very often. You're often planning your training around the next match in a couple of days. To start gradually thinking about things you'd like to improve and focus on your batting, it's been a really beneficial thing for me to work a few things out."