Jos Buttler: England and Manchester Originals star will be outstanding captain says Steven Finn

It's been a while coming, but Jos Buttler the captain finally has a smile back on his face.

Then his Manchester Originals side lost their opening three games in The Hundred.

But a comprehensive 47-run win over Welsh Fire on Tuesday evening finally saw a little smile return to the face of one of England's greatest ever players.

Factors beyond Buttler's control

There have, of course, been caveats to those results, which have meant England failed to win a home white-ball series for the first time since 2013.

England have been badly affected by the dramatic loss of form from players like Jason Roy and Liam Livingstone, while the rearranged fifth Test against India left the white-ball team facing 12 games (one of which was a no result) in 25 days, limiting the time for any meaningful practice between matches.

Throw in the loss of Morgan and Ben Stokes, who has retired from one-day international cricket and been rested from T20 cricket, and it's clear to see why some felt Buttler had been dealt a difficult hand.

It didn't get easier when Buttler linked up with the Originals, with more below-par performances hindering his team's chances.

West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell has only scored 67 runs and taken 2-92 off 50 balls, while Australia's Sean Abbott recorded figures of 1-110 across their first three matches before impressing with 4-8 against Welsh Fire.

But, naturally, as is the cut-throat nature of professional sport, Buttler has still felt the need to ask for patience on his captaincy journey.

It is easy to forget Morgan lost 11 of his first 18 one-day internationals as captain.

'He will be an outstanding captain'

Steven Finn, who was part of the Originals team that Buttler captained for their first two games last summer, believes any talk about Buttler's suitability as a captain is "stupid".

"It is completely unnecessary," Finn told BBC Sport. "He is by far the best option for the job.

"He will be an outstanding captain in time, when he is able to put his own stamp on the team.

"The schedule they've [England] had to play is verging on ridiculous. He's had to deal with that as well as unexpectedly being given the captaincy.

"The speculation is stupid quite frankly and I'm very confident that in the long run he'll be the right person to do the job."

In Tuesday's post-match interview, Buttler appeared calm - joking that Russell may have dropped a catch because his hands were in his pockets sheltering from the Manchester weather.

It's that relaxed, jovial and ice cool demeanour which Finn recognises from sharing a dressing room for England and the Originals.

"He's very calm under pressure and he's obviously one of, if not the, best white-ball players in the world. His perspective of the game is outstanding," said Finn.

"Whenever I've played with him or been in a dressing room where he is, I've always thought that the way he thinks about the game is different to everyone else."

Current England women's captain Heather Knight had a similar challenge to Buttler when she succeeded Charlotte Edwards, who had led her side to global 50-over and T20 success.

Knight told BBC Sport that as a new captain you want to "find your own way, put your own stance on it and be authentic" but that process can take "a little bit of time".

"Finding your voice is quite an important thing as a captain," Knight added.

"Knowing Jos a little bit, he isn't the big Churchillian speaker but when he does speak I imagine people listen.

"It is using your voice in the best possible way and being really clear about where you want the team to go.

"That is probably one of the things I've found most important - making sure you are being yourself and being authentic, because if you're not people don't buy it."

Knight, who was England's captain when they beat India to win the 2017 World Cup, said that despite how you are faring results wise, it is important to remain "quite level and consistent with your message and firm in the way you want to play".

But she also believes captaining in The Hundred is "really difficult" and has been impressed with Buttler's "innovative" leadership so far.

"The fact he is trying out not keeping while captaining Manchester Originals is a really interesting one and shows he is willing to try different things," she said.

"We've seen that in his batting - he's always trying new shots and being really creative with how he goes about things. I think he'll do that with this captaincy and be quite different and innovative when he's got a bit of confidence."