AFP, LONDON: Australia may regret Shane Warne's latest encouragement of a talented English cricketer if Jos Buttler's return to Test duty proves a success.

Buttler was the eye-catching choice when new England national selector Ed Smith named his first Test squad for the series opener with Pakistan at Lord's on Thursday. Although widely regarded as one of the most talented ball-strikers in world cricket, Buttler played the last of his 18 Tests in December 2016, against India at Chennai.

He also hasn't played a first-class match since September, with the 27-year-old's fine run of form in the Twenty20 Indian Premier League, where he scored five successive fifties for the Rajasthan Royals, rather than in the traditional proving ground of England's County Championship, providing the basis for Buttler's recall.