LATE DEVELOPER TOBY WILL KEEP IT SIMPLE IN BID TO MAKE ASHES
TOBY ROLAND-JONES admits he did wonder, as he approached cricketing middle-age, whether the hat-trick he took for Middlesex to earn the County Championship at Lord’s last year might be as good as it gets. Instead, the 29-year-old, who gave both barrels to South Africa in a dream Test debut, goes into tomorrow’s series decider at Old Trafford with one foot already on the plane to Australia for this winter’s Ashes. ‘That did feel like it would be a difficult feeling to surpass,’ said Roland-Jones of his treble against Yorkshire which brought last year’s domestic season to a climax. ‘But the week at The Ovalal was very special. Sometimess I had the chance in the field to look around at a full house with an exciting atmosphere and took a moment to soak it all up knowing my family were there. That’s what will stick with me the longest.’ What an introduction too the highest level Roland-Jones enjoyed, with eight wickets in a stunning victory to give England an unassailable 2-1 lead. But there were times when one of the unsung heroes of the county circuit was convinced opportunity had passed him by. ‘It hasn’t always felt like it was particularly close,’ said RolandJones as England reconvened in Manchester. ‘When you are in the county game dipping in and out of form, you never really know where you are in the pecking order, particularly when other guys are getting picked ahead of you. At the same time, when I’ve been putting in match-winning performances for Middlesex I’ve been pretty content.’ One man who never stopped believing in Roland-Jones is his Middlesex mentor Angus Fraser, who passed on the importance of the unspectacular but effective qualities that made him one of England’s best. ‘He is always pretty straight with his words but he sent his congratulations and said how proud he was,’ said RolandJones of the Middlesex director of cricket and England selector. ‘He has played a huge role in aiding me, so to share it all with him was pretty special as well. ‘Gus is a realist and doesn’t say things for the sake of it. He has always been quick to tell me to be myself, play my natural game — to keep plugging away and I might get a chance.c ‘HisH mantra is to sometimess view fast bowling as a boring wearing down of the opposition.o KeepingK Gus sweet sincesin he’s been a selectorselec has always beenb theth ploy!’ Roland-Jones, like Fraser, is a no-nonsense, workhorse type of bowler without extreme pace or even extreme movement — which may have led to the suggestions he might only thrive in English conditions. It is a theory he refutes. ‘England is where I’ve played most of my cricket so naturally I’m more adept in our conditions but I certainly don’t see that as a limiting factor. I’ve enjoyed bowling in places like Australia and Sri Lanka and I see myself as someone who can adapt to all conditions.’ South Africa’s Vernon Philander has declared himself fully fit for a Test the tourists have to win after the mystery stomach virus that had such a debilitating effect on him at The Oval.