First, the short-term pain for England cricket captain Jos Buttler: He'll miss the Twenty20 series against Australia — and potentially the one-day series, too, because of a right calf injury.
As for the long-term perspective, that should be much more healthy for arguably England's greatest ever white-ball player after Buttler was given a glowing endorsement by the man who is about to become his coach.
Brendon McCullum confirmed on Thursday he would be sticking with Buttler as England's T20 and ODI captain once the New Zealander takes over running the teams at the start of next year, having opted this week to combine that role with leading the test side.
At times, Buttler appeared to be weighed down by the responsibility of captaining England during the ODI team's woeful defense of its 50-over World Cup trophy in India, and then during the T20 World Cup, where the English were again reigning champions, when they underwhelmed before getting thrashed by India in the semifinals.
McCullum wants Buttler to reset, realize how good he is, and enjoy the final years of his career. He is adamant he wants that to be as captain, too.
“What I want from Jos,” McCullum said in his first news conference since the announcement of his overarching dual role, "is for him to enjoy the next few years. If he was to retire today, he would go down as probably the greatest white-ball player England has ever produced.
"There’s an opportunity over the next three, four years, however long he plays for, while he is captaining England, to enjoy it. Not protect anything. Get the most out of all those guys around him, keep walking towards danger, play with a smile on his face, and try to do something which is really cool, which he can look back on and say, ‘Gee, I enjoyed those last few years.’ That will be my job, to keep pushing him towards that.”
Buttler won't be doing that next week, when England plays fierce rival Australia in three T20s starting from Wednesday, after a setback in his recovery from a calf injury that has kept him sidelined since July.
Buttler has been replaced in the T20 squad by Jamie Overton, while Phil Salt will take over as captain, having also deputized for Buttler in the role for the Manchester Originals in the recent Hundred tournament.
The five-match ODI series starts on Sept. 19 so Buttler has two weeks to recover. Batter Jordan Cox has been added to the ODI squad as cover in case Buttler doesn’t make it.
England has already started blooding a new generation of leaders this summer, with Ben Stokes’ torn hamstring allowing Ollie Pope to take charge of the ongoing test series against Sri Lanka.
McCullum wants that to happen on the coaching front, too, saying it will be important to have the right team around him so he can, from time to time, have a break amid a busy all-formats schedule over the coming years.
That should help in enabling a successor to emerge, too.
“There'll be times where we’ll have to be smart with (rotating) players and support staff in and out, and that will include myself,” McCullum said. "I don’t see that as a problem. I’m happy to be governed by the results and be the one that’s in the gun if things don’t work out.
“But there's some opportunities for some of the other coaches in our group at the moment to step up and run the team in a head coach capacity. I think that’s great, because ultimately when I (leave) in 3 ½ years, you want the group of coaches who you've been able to bring along to be viable head coach candidates. Whilst it’s a challenge, it’s an opportunity.”