England axe inspired me to ton glory

Jason Roy struck a record England one-day score of 180 to register a first tour win over australia and revealed he was spurred on after being dropped last summer.

Roy, 27( below), produced a power-hitting masterclass at the MCG to surpass the 171 that alex Hales made against Pakistan less than 18 months ago, and continue a remarkable turnaround in fortunes in his oDI career.

The surrey batsman was omitted after managing just 68 runs in nine matches before returning courtesy of Hales’s end- of- season suspension to hit 84 and 96 versus West Indies last september.

‘It was an absolute honour to be out there on the MCG and to get a score like that. It’s been a while coming,’ Roy said.

‘I had a very tough year in 2017, being dropped from the side and then being brought back. It gave me a bit of a kick to recognise where I’m at, where my preparation is and start building up a platform to get ready for internationals.’

The way Roy was striking the ball, he appeared an outside bet to become England’s first double centurion in limited- overs cricket before he skied one off Mitchell starc with 24 runs needed.

and he believes the day of an individual 200 is not far away for a team who repeatedly rip up the record books.

‘We’ve got ourselves closer and closer, we’re edging ourselves towards it and it’s by no stretch of the imagination impossible for us,’ he said. Roy’s recent form had been patchy but he put 62 runs in six visits to the crease for sydney sixers in the Big Bash behind him to lead a high- octane pursuit of australia’s 304 for eight.

after bringing England’s 50 up in just 4.2 overs during an opening stand with Jonny Bairstow, Roy said: ‘It wasn’t a preconceived idea, I didn’t go out there thinking, “I’m going to go all guns blazing”. I went out there and started as I’ve started every net session since I’ve been in australia, trying to play the ball late, play strong shots and it was just a case of finding the gaps. some innings you hit them straight to fielders, some innings you don’t.’ With Test captain Joe Root sharing in a 221run stand, an England record for the third wicket in oDIs, the tables were turned on australia in spectacular style. a first international victory here had been 78 days in the making, but such was its dominance that australia captain steve smith suggested his own team could learn from their ashes opponents. Who would have thought it?

‘England have got to be up there as one of the best teams in the world at the moment in one-day cricket,’ said smith.

‘The way they play is that everyone goes really hard with Joe Root as the rock in the middle.

‘He plays good cricket and guys bat around him. It works for them and it’s something we might have to think about as well.

‘The English are playing with such freedom.’