English wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler is eager to use his upcoming Big Bash League stint with Melbourne Renegades as a springboard for a second consecutive standout series against Australia.
The 23-year-old is on his first trip to Australia, but his acclimatisation ahead of Friday night's BBL season opener against the Melbourne Stars has been aided by spending the past month training and playing with England's development squad in Brisbane and Perth.
Buttler has been England's preferred gloveman in Twenty20 for more than a year, but his progression to the one-day team yielded little until the one-day series against Australia that followed the winter Ashes.
While that series was a forgettable one for England – the host lost 2-1 in a rain-plagued series – the hard-hitting right-hander thrived with two half-centuries in his three innings.
''I really needed those games,'' Buttler explained.
''I struggled a bit in the Champions Trophy ... but I tried to use those bad experiences positively, to work on what I did wrong back then and what I can improve on. I took that into the series against Australia, and luckily it came off for me ... and I managed to have a good series.
''It'll be really good for me to play before the ODIs.
''Obviously it's a different format ... but it's a great opportunity for me to play at the [ODI] grounds and get a bit of experience ... and pick up some knowledge I can hopefully use later on.''
Buttler boasts a surprisingly high level of Twenty20 experience given he only turned 23 in September.
He has already played 95 matches for Somerset and England, from which he boasts an impressive strike rate of 143.20.
That was a key reason why he was pursued by the Renegades to fill their second international slot, behind Muthiah Muralidaran, for their first two matches, until the arrival of Pakistan all-rounder Mohammed Hafeez in late December.
''Strike rates are obviously something that's really focused on in Twenty20 cricket, especially where I bat in the middle order and in the death overs.
''I've probably been a bit fortunate to play at Taunton, which is a small ground, but I've played nearly 100 games and am just 23 so it's good to have a strike-rate up there.''
In the two matches Buttler will play for the Renegades – the gap to the one-day series should allow him to watch the Tests, a format he aspires to play, in Melbourne and Sydney – he is due to play as a specialist batsman, with Peter Nevill taking the gloves.
