This is real Roy of the overs stuff
REPORTS JASON ROY says the heartbreak of losing his place in the one-day side in the middle of the Champions Trophy campaign last summer is driving his charge towards next year’s World Cup.
England’s opener seeks to cap a near-perfect series at Old Trafford tomorrow by helping Eoin Morgan’s men inflict a first ODI whitewash by England on Australia.
But after posting his second century of the series at Durham on Thursday, he admitted it is the prospect of proving his doubters wrong on the biggest stage that is dominating his sights.
“When I was dropped it was heartbreaking for me. But you work hard, you train hard and I’m happy that the results have come my way now,” he said.
“Let’s hope this time next year I’m at the World Cup and I’m in decent form and can win some games for the team. At the end of the day I want to be a part of the team in the World Cup. If I’m not, I’m not, that’s the way it is, it is for the benefit of the team.”
It is almost unthinkable that Roy will not be opening for England in the first match of next summer’s World Cup against South Africa at the Oval on May 30.
Yet no one knows better that form is temporary.
Since getting back into the side last October – when Alex Hales was suspended after Bristol – Roy has averaged more than 55, hit the highest score ever by an England player (180) and scored two hundreds in his last three visits to the crease.
“This is probably the best head space I’ve been in knowing my role in the team, knowing my training and knowing my technique and trusting myself, so you could probably say that it’s the best I’ve batted,” he said.
“But it was interesting hearing that I was struggling. I felt pretty good in New Zealand, I just didn’t get a big score. I felt I was in a good head space and striking the ball well, I just wasn’t kicking on.
“I got a couple of 40s and obviously those aren’t good enough as an opener. I had a bit of negativity from the
TEAMS Roy, Bairstow, Hales, Root, Morgan (capt), Buttler (wkt), Moeen, Willey, Overton, Rashid, Wood. Finch, Head, Marsh, Stoinis, Carey, Paine (capt-wkt), Agar, Neser, Richardson, Lyon, Stanlake. R Bailey & K Dharmasena TV UMPIRE: M Erasmus START: 1100 live on Sky Sports 2
ENGLAND: AUSTRALIA: UMPIRES: winter but from my point of view it was pretty positive, we ended up winning two away series and then coming back have won this series.”
England have never inflicted a 5-0 whitewash on Australia in 21 bilateral series since the first in 1970 but they will never have a better chance tomorrow.
After a slightly nervy opening three-wicket win at the Oval they have powered forward with increasing confidence with Australia barely able to lay a glove on them at 4-0. Roy and Bairstow have been key to that progress, posting their best stand of 159 at Trent Bridge in the third ODI, then bettering that with 174 at the Riverside. Their match-winning effort at Durham also gave them a fifth hundred partnership in just 16 attempts – another record for England. Roy greeted the news of the record with a shrug. “That’s fantastic but I didn’t know,” he said. “It’s a reward for the hard work we have put in.” He added: “Our main aim is to just make sure that these are just stepping stones to the bigger picture, and that’s the World Cup. It’s great breaking all the records but the day the aim is to have this confidence come the World Cup so we can get some good wins under our belts.”