London: England white-ball captain Jos Buttler has expressed his disappointment that he won’t be returning to the Paarl Royals for Betway SA20 Season 3.
Buttler, who has England international commitments, has been the Royals’ leading run-scorer the past two seasons, including topping the competition’s run-scorers list during the maiden SA20 season in 2023.
Overall, Buttler has 799 runs at an average of 39.95 and strike-rate 137.99 to place him second behind Durban’s Super Giants Heinrich Klaasen on the all-time list.
Buttler’s currency of runs along with his vast experience as a leader and neat work behind the stumps will be sorely missed as the Royals hope to reach a first-ever SA20 Final next year after falling short in the playoffs in successive seasons.
The Royals have, of course, brought in a stellar replacement with Buttler’s England teammate Joe Root taking his place at the top of the order for Season 3.
“Disappointed I won’t be coming back to SA20 next year,” Buttler said.
“There are some England games going on, and my focus will be there. So, yeah it’s a shame that I won’t be coming back to the tournament.
“I’ve got a lot of love for that tournament. Huge amount of love for the Paarl Royals, especially the Paarl Royals fans.
“So, I wish you all the best in the competition and hope I can come back in the future.”
FULL LIST OF RETAINED PAARL ROYALS SA PLAYERS
David Miller – captain, Lungi Ngidi, Bjorn Fortuin, Andile Phehlukwayo, Mitchell van Buuren, Codi Yusuf, Keith Dudgeon, Nqaba Peter, Kwena Maphaka, Lhuan-dre Pretorius
