This time last year, Jos Buttler could have been forgiven for wondering – on some profound and existential level – what it was all for. He was one of the world’s greatest short-form batsmen. Nobody questioned that. But since losing his place in the England Test side towards the end of 2016, he had spent the months traipsing around the world, flying from one franchised Twenty20 tournament to the next, stateless and rootless. In the space of 15 months, he had played almost 100 games of cricket. Just four had involved a red ball. One of the greatest talents of the age was fulfilling merely a fraction of his true, genre-spanning potential. What a difference 12 months makes. Now, Buttler can reflect on a journey that has taken him out of the Test wilderness and into the very heart of England’s cricketing future. In the longer format, he has quietly become one of England’s most indispensable batsmen, able to control a game through immaculate poise or sheer brute force. In the shorter forms, he continues to loosen jaws the world over. A home Ashes series and a World Cup await. But first, he is preparing another assault on the competition…