It’ll be Roy of Rovers stuff if we come home with cup says Moeen

MOEEN ALI believes T20 World Cup glory without Jason Roy would be England’s greatest achievement yet as a white-ball team.

Roy has been ruled out of the tournament with a torn calf that puts him on the sidelines next to Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes, Sam Curran and Tymal Mills, who would all be playing otherwise.

If England see off New Zealand in the semi-finals tomorrow and follow it up with one more triumph on Sunday, Moeen believes it will be a far bigger feat than when they lifted the ODIWorld Cup in 2019 with a fully-fit squad.

“I think this would be our greatest achievement,” said Moeen, below. “We feel like the work that we’ve put in as a squad – as a 15 or 16 – over the last few years, it will feel like we’ve been repaid.

“We’ve lost so many players but the players that have come in are also big players.

“The reason why they don’t play is because we have such a strong 11.

“Not long ago, I wasn’t playing and maybe through injury to Stokesy and stuff, I am playing more now.

“For me, if we win the World Cup, it will show the depth of English cricket.

“You’ve got to be doing really well to get in but it would be a massive achievement for this group of players if we do win that trophy.”

For Moeen, it would be another feather in his cap after missing out on both the semi-final and final of the ODI 2019 World Cup.

Dropped after two defeats in a row to Australia and Sri Lanka, Moeen accepted that he had to make way for the good of the team.

But here in the UAE, he has become central to England’s fortunes with bat and ball and will have a key part to play tomorrow.

He said: “I was obviously slightly disappointed that I wasn’t playing in the semi or final in 2019, but I wasn’t down.

“I was still there for the boys and I felt like I was out there. It didn’t bother me too much that I didn’t play in those games, because I know that it was best for the team at that time.

“Now the confidence is high and I just feel like a big part of the team, I’ve got very important roles and I’m really happy with my game.

“I feel like I’m playing really well and the captain sees that and he wants to use that as much as he can. It would mean a lot to do well and to lift the T20 World Cup.”