Gough: Buttler has two Test matches to save his career

Former England seamer Darren Gough also feels that Jofra Archer and Mark Wood should be rotated for the remainder of the series.

Out-of-form wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler’s place will be under threat if he doesn’t perform in the next two Tests against the West Indies, reckons former England seamer Darren Gough.

Buttler has not scored a fifty in his last 12 Test innings and also dropped Jermaine Blackwood, who ended up scoring match-winning 95 for West Indies in the first Test.

“Buttler has got two Test matches to save his career, for me,” Gough, who has picked 229 wickets in 58 Tests for England, told Sky Sports Cricket .

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“He’s a terrific talent, lots of kids look up to him and he has all the shots. But, in Test cricket, you can’t just keep getting out and that’s what he keeps doing.”

Gough also feels that Jofra Archer and Mark Wood should be rotated for the remainder of the series, suggesting to bring back Stuart Broad and and Chris Woakes, who were both ignored for the opening Test by stand-in skipper Ben Stokes.

“I think Broad’s coming back in. I would rest Wood and Anderson at Old Trafford and bring in Broad and Woakes,” said Gough.

“That would be my plan then, with back-to-back Test matches, you bring Anderson and Wood back (for the third Test). I’ve said from the start - rotate Archer and Wood.

“We got a bit carried away, seeing Wood bowl really quickly in South Africa. We’ve seen Archer do it, but it’s very hard to do it every single game. Broad, Woakes and Anderson are the reliable three, while Archer and Wood will blow away the opposition on their day.”

Gough said England should get their selection right to bounce back in the three-Test series.

“Pick the right player, for the right conditions and don’t get too funky with selection. Stick to the plan and England will come back in this Test series,” he said.

He also raised questions on the selection of Joe Denly, who scored 18 and 29 in the first Test.

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“The Denly selection - I think he’s been a lucky boy to play the Tests he has played. I love him as a bloke, I think he’s a terrific guy,” Gough said.

“But if you consider that since 2000, 47 batsmen have played for England - there’s only three with worse averages to have played 15 Tests.

“That’s Malan, Compton and Jennings - and they’ve all got hundreds. Denly hasn’t got a hundred, so it’s time to make a change.”