The English cricket team national selector Ed Smith has claimed that he was absolutely committed to recalling Jos Buttler in the Test squad during the summer while he also defended the out-of-form English Test opener Keaton Jennings.

Due to recent brilliant consistent forms with the bat in the limited-overs international cricket, Buttler made a comeback in the Test playing XI in this May after almost one-and-a-half-year later. After playing some good knocks during the Pakistan Test series at home, Buttler once again played some crucial knocks in the ongoing five-match home Test series against India.

Since making a comeback in the Test squad in this May, Buttler has played seven Tests (11 innings) where he has scored 510 runs with the average of 51.00, including one century and four half-centuries. In the ongoing Test match against India at The Oval, Buttler played a crucial knock of 89 runs off 133 balls that saved the hosts from a troublesome situation.

Talking about Buttler’s Test selection in this summer, Ed Smith told Sky Sports ahead of the day four of The Oval Test, “One of my attitudes to selection is that there has to be a compelling reason not to have one of your top players in the team and I couldn’t see any way Buttler was not in our seven best batsmen. I also feel he has the potential, due to his character, technique and mastery, to go on and adapt to Test cricket and not just become a good player, but a really fine Test cricketer.

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“It’s a pick I was absolutely committed to happening and the way he has played has been a positive. I never doubted Buttler had the ability or that he would repay that investment. It was a challenge for me as I knew it was different. It would have been an easy criticism to say he hadn’t played any red-ball cricket and if it had gone wrong I would have been the one to have borne that risk, which is fine.

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“When I took the job I said I was going to have the courage of what I believe – if I believe something to be right, I won’t shy away from doing it, even if it’s potentially going to play really badly if it goes wrong.”

Meanwhile, Smith has also backed the 26-year-old English opener Keaton Jennings who is running in a hard form with the bat. After completing the India tour in December 2016, where he had provided some impressive performances with the bat including his debutant Test century at Mumbai, he hasn’t played a single 50+ innings in Test cricket.

In the ongoing five-match Test series, Jennings has run in a disaster form with the bat as he scored only 163 runs in nine innings with the average of just 18.11.

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However, Smith still believes on Jennings as England will now have to face some of the tough situations in Test cricket after their experienced Test opener Alastair Cook’s retirement at the end of ongoing The Oval Test.

Smith said on Jennings’ future, “We have to look at the opening position after Alastair’s retirement so we will have a full and open conversation about all the options. But in the analysis of this summer I think it has been misunderstood the extent to which the ball has moved extravagantly. I have never seen the ball swing and seam as much as it has done this summer and some of the pitches have turned as well. That has to be taken into account.

“Some of the people who have dropped out of the side have had a full year of international cricket before that decision was made, some of which pre-date me. I would say Keaton has had a very tough reintroduction to Test cricket and that should be taken into account as we move forward.”