JOS Buttler is surely destined to be a leading light of England’s new era, but is happy to admit he derived great benefit from playing in the old one alongside Kevin Pietersen.

Buttler made both his one-day international and Twenty20 debuts in teams containing Pietersen, but only 13 of the 23-year-old’s 52 limited-overs caps to date have coincided with the availability of England’s record runscorer.

There will be no more reunions, of course, after England’s controversial decision to call time on Pietersen’s international career in the aftermath of this winter’s Ashes drubbing.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Buttler will be one of those required to demonstrate England can prosper without Pietersen.

As he prepares for the start of two limited-overs series against West Indies – three ODIs in Antigua and three Twenty20s in Barbados – he makes it clear he found Pietersen's advice invaluable in the short cross-over of their careers.

“The calibre of player that Kevin was, it was great to be around him,” said Buttler.

“Personally, I liked to try and ask him as many questions as I could – as everyone usually does, when you’ve got people who are that good.

“It’s good to try to pick their brains, and he was a great player for England.

“But that decision has been made, and now we have to move on as a team – and we can do that here, starting this week.”