Joseph Charles Buttler (born 8 September 1990) is an English international cricketer and the former captain of the England cricket team. He plays for Lancashire in domestic cricket and has played in multiple T20 leagues. Widely considered England's greatest-ever white-ball cricketer, he is known for his innovative and aggressive batting style. He was part of the England team that won the 2019 ODI World Cup and led the team to victory at the 2022 T20 World Cup.
Buttler made his T20I debut in 2011, his ODI debut in 2012, and his Test debut in 2014. He was the vice-captain and a crucial member of the England team that won the 2019 Cricket World Cup, and made the run out during the Super Over which sealed victory in the final. He was appointed captain of England's limited-overs teams in June 2022. He captained England to victory at the 2022 T20 World Cup, top-scoring for his country at the tournament.
Buttler plays as a right-handed wicket-keeper-batsman and is England's most-capped T20I player. Along with Adil Rashid, he holds the world record for highest seventh-wicket stand in ODIs: 177 against New Zealand during their 2015 tour of England. He is England's highest run-scorer in T20Is, and is one of only two Englishmen to score multiple T20I centuries. As a wicket-keeper, he holds the England record for most dismissals in both ODI and T20I formats. In August 2026, Buttler became the highest run-scorer in men's T20 cricket, surpassing Kieron Pollard's previous record.
Born in Taunton, Somerset, on 8 September 1990, Buttler was educated at King's College, Taunton, where he displayed his early talent in cricket.
Buttler played extensively for Somerset's youth teams, appearing at Under-13, Under-15 and Under-17 level. He made his senior club cricket debut for Cheddar before moving to Glastonbury in the 2006 season, aged just 15, taking three catches and 15 runs as wicket-keeper. Later in the same season, he made his first appearance for Somerset Second XI, scoring 71 in the second-innings, and taking six catches in the three-day match against Nottinghamshire Second XI. Playing for King's College, he finished the 2006 season with the school's leading batting average, scoring 447 runs at an average of 49.66. The following season he played regularly for Glastonbury in the West of England Premier League, and for Somerset Under-17s, for whom he scored two centuries; an unbeaten 119 during a two-day match against Surrey Under-17s, and 110 against Sussex Under-17s. He once again led the batting averages for King's College, with his 358 runs coming at 51.14.
The highlight of his school career came in April 2008, when he scored 227 not out during a record-breaking opening stand in a 50-over national schools game, adding 340 with Alex Barrow. He captained King's during the 2008 season, and improved on his batting totals from the previous two years, scoring 851 runs, over 250 more than any other member of the team. His batting average of 94.55 was the sixth highest amongst all school's batsmen reported in Wisden, while his high-score of 227* was the highest score they recorded. During that 2008 season, Buttler also played for Somerset Second XI. With captain Carl Gazzard keeping wicket in the majority of these matches, Buttler played purely as a batsman, although in his final match of the season for the team, he kept wicket and took six catches in the first-innings against Worcestershire Second XI. In the previous match, against Hampshire Second XI, Buttler had made 140 batting from number four.
He made his first-class debut for Somerset in September 2009, replacing the injured Justin Langer for the County Championship match against Lancashire, scoring 30 in his only innings. He retained his place in the team for the following Pro40 match against Hampshire, making his List A debut, although he was not required to bat. Selected as part of the Somerset squad for the 2009 Champions League Twenty20, Buttler made his debut in the 20-over format of the game in Somerset's final match of the league stage, remaining six not out at the close of the innings. Buttler again captained King's in 2009, and in the seventeen matches under his leadership they lost only once, and also won the Western School Twenty20 competition. Coupled with his 554 runs for the school at an average of 61.55, and his performances for Somerset, he was named 2010 Young Wisden Schools Cricketer of the Year.
When Craig Kieswetter was called up to the England one-day team in 2010, Buttler was given the chance of a prolonged run in Somerset's first team. Brian Rose, Somerset's Director of Cricket, chose not to bring in an experienced keeper to deputise, explaining that Kieswetter had been in a similar position three years earlier and that he had good reports of Buttler's ability. In his first match of the 2010 season, Buttler remained 22 not out at the close of Somerset's innings, posting his first runs in List A cricket, and he followed this up with two catches to help Somerset beat Glamorgan in their opening Clydesdale Bank 40 fixture.
He made his maiden first-class century in his fourth County Championship match, scoring 144 runs in an innings characterised by "dogged determination and [a] decent range of shots". In his next match, he scored his debut List A half-century against Sussex. Buttler joined James Hildreth at the crease with Somerset at 109/4, requiring 183 more runs to win off 129 balls. The pair put on a partnership of 158 runs "to turn the game on its head", with Buttler making 69 in 53 balls. In doing so, they set a new record partnership for the fifth-wicket against Sussex. His continued good batting form, which also saw him make scores of 52 and 31* in a County Championship match against Yorkshire, saw him retain his place in the Somerset team upon Kieswetter's return.
Buttler was named Man of the Match in Somerset's 2010 Friends Provident T20 semi-final victory over Nottinghamshire at the Rose Bowl, reaching a "breathtaking" half-century from 21 balls to score an unbeaten 55 runs in a partnership of 75 with Kieron Pollard. His aggressive batting won him many plaudits and helped Somerset reach the final of the 2010 Clydesdale Bank 40 as well as the Twenty20 cup.
His good form with the bat continued into 2011 as Somerset again reached the final of both the T20 and 40 over competitions, with Buttler top-scoring with a "mature" 86 runs from 72 balls in the 40 over final. In both 2010 and 2011 he was awarded the NBC Denis Compton Award as Somerset's most promising young player and made his full England debut at the end of the season.
The 2012 season proved similarly productive for Buttler, and featured a "brilliant" half-century scored from 36 balls against Northamptonshire in the domestic 40 over competition, although increasing international call-ups limited his appearances for Somerset and Kieswetter remained the first-choice wicket-keeper for Somerset. The second County Championship match of the 2013 season saw Buttler score 94 runs playing as a specialist batsman and an injury to Kieswetter at the end of April provided an opportunity for Buttler to claim his place as wicket-keeper in the team. Somerset started the County Championship season poorly, but Buttler was praised for adopting a mature approach to his batting, averaging over 40 with the bat in the Championship at the midpoint of the season and enjoying his most productive first-class season to date. After missing county matches again due to international call-ups, Buttler saw Kieswetter return as wicket-keeper in some T20 county matches and began to publicly question his future at the club if he was not to keep wicket regularly for the one-day team. He delayed signing a new contract he had been offered, concerned that by not being the main wicket-keeper for Somerset that he would put his international wicket-keeping place in jeopardy, despite a strong emotional attachment to the county. Despite Somerset's desire to keep Buttler at the club, they were unable to reach an agreement which satisfied Buttler's desire to keep wicket, and at the end of the season he announced that he would be leaving Somerset with the aim of securing his international place and breaking into the England Test team.