Jos Buttler says a conversation with England batting coach Marcus Trescothick helped him rediscover the form that took his past the all-time T20 run-scoring record.
The England wicketkeeper broke Kieron Pollard’s mark of 14,803 as he recorded a 20-ball 51 for Manchester Super Giants on Wednesday – his third 50+ score in four innings.
Buttler also hammered a 64-ball 131 in his most recent international outing, a T20 victory over India at Southampton last month, but struggled in the format’s World Cup earlier this year, averaging 10.87 from eight matches as England went out in the semi-finals.
The 35-year-old said: “Marcus Trescothick said this to me, ‘if you work on your technique, it allows your mind to free up’.
“A lot of time when people are out of form, it’s like you’ve got to get out your own way. You’re in your head, it’s mental and you’ve got to lose that.
“Ultimately, I feel like I can’t see the ball very well when I’m not playing well. So I was looking at the position I get to when the ball is coming out of the hand, and I worked back.
“I felt like my trigger movement was twisting as opposed to staying in line. I like to get into that position where I can see the ball really well, the angle of the bat second slip or third slip as opposed to pointing at the wicketkeeper.
“So once I’d made the technical stuff and was comfortable and happy with that, my mindset was much better.”
Buttler is the second-highest run scorer in this season’s Hundred with 277, behind only Sunrisers Leeds’ Mitch Marsh with 290.
He also has the second-most sixes with 20, again behind Australian Marsh who has 23.
Former England opener Trescothick, meanwhile, will take interim charge of the Test side for the forthcoming series against Pakistan following Brendon McCullum’s sacking.
“Sometimes, your technique can slip a little bit, in T20 cricket especially.” added Buttler, who was speaking while promoting the ECB’s Cricket Cities project, which provides opportunities to get active through cricket.
“But I think your game is always evolving and technique is always evolving a little bit. If I watch myself back now compared to when I was 25 there’s differences.
“I do think Marcus was like right, that it was a technical change that allowed my mind to be freer.”
