Phil Salt Confirmed as Wicketkeeper for England's T20I Series Against West Indies

Phil Salt will take on the role of wicketkeeper for England in their upcoming T20I series against the West Indies, even with the return of Jos Buttler to the squad.

Buttler, who has been England's regular wicketkeeper in 106 of his last 108 T20 internationals, has only fielded in two games – both in Trinidad during England’s December 2023 tour of the Caribbean. However, Salt, who has kept wicket in 13 of his 59 appearances for England across formats, will continue behind the stumps for this series.

"It's not something I've done a lot for England recently," Salt said in Barbados ahead of the third ODI. "But I enjoy keeping. I feel like that's where I offer most to the side."

Despite Buttler's availability for the T20Is, Salt has been given the gloves for the ongoing ODI series. He has been selected ahead of Jordan Cox, who will serve as a backup for Test keeper Jamie Smith in New Zealand. Buttler, who has been sidelined for several months due to a calf injury, had initially been slated to step aside from wicketkeeping for the T20 series against Australia in September. He had hoped to experiment with captaining from a different position on the field, suggesting he would give up the gloves to captain from mid-off if it would aid his leadership.

Buttler arrived in the Caribbean on Sunday and trained at Kensington Oval on Monday, though he will not be available for the ODI decider on Wednesday. He will resume his role as England’s T20I captain ahead of the five-match series against the West Indies starting on Saturday. This will be Buttler’s first appearance in international cricket since England’s T20 World Cup semi-final exit in June. 

Essex wicketkeeper-batter Michael Pepper, who was originally selected only for the ODI squad, has been added to the T20I group and will remain with the team for the duration of the tour.

When asked whether his move to wicketkeeping would be a permanent change, Salt replied, “We’ve not had that chat about anything going forward. I’m just glad to be doing it at the moment.”

Salt has had a solid series with the bat, making scores of 18 and 59 in the first two ODIs. His half-century in the second match helped England tie the series after chasing down 329 in Antigua. However, the team’s performance in the first match, where they were bowled out for just 209, drew criticism from captain Liam Livingstone, who urged the team to "bat smarter."

While Salt has found some rhythm in T20 cricket, his ODI form has been less consistent. Over his last ten ODIs, he has averaged just 24.30, with only one half-century. His tendency to get dismissed early in the powerplay has limited his output – in fact, his innings in Antigua was the first time he had batted past the tenth over since June 2022.

Reflecting on his game, Salt said, “When anybody’s at their best, they’re aggressive and smart. They go hand in hand – they have to if you’re going to have any success in white-ball cricket."

He added, "I know I could have got more runs. I think for myself, it’s how do I drop the strike rate and pump the average… prolonging my innings and extending partnerships. Those are two of the most important things in 50-over cricket.”

Salt’s recent ODI series against Australia was his first experience of 50-over cricket since the Caribbean tour in December 2023. With The Hundred running alongside the One-Day Cup during the English summer, many of England's younger white-ball players have had limited List A experience. Salt noted the challenge of readjusting to the 50-over format.

“There’s not many players in this team that you could go through and say ‘oh, they’re doing a great job right now’. That’s the reality of it because we’ve not played a lot of 50-over cricket," he said.

Salt expressed a desire for a domestic 50-over competition, saying, "I’d love the opportunity to play in that so you can get the rhythm and it’s not always stop-start. But that’s what we’ve got. As a player, you’ve got to adapt."