COMFORT & ROY
‘Selfless’ batsman told his place is safe despite form slump
SELFLESS Jason Roy will be backed at the top of the England order against Australia as a reward for epitomising how England play their oneday cricket.
Roy has been a catalyst for the change in England’s white-ball fortunes since the last World Cup and the fact he has tried to get them away to fast starts without reining himself in for personal gain has not gone unnoticed.
“We’ve stuck by people when they haven’t been taking wickets or scoring runs and it’s always paid dividends when it’s happened,” said assistant coach Paul Farbrace. “I don’t see Jason being any different.
“There’s also an element of trust and reward for him, in the sense he’s gone out and played the way we’ve wanted him to at all times and you stick by people in that case.
“Jason epitomises the way we want to play our cricket and I don’t think he is too far away from a score.” The decision to keep going with Roy is in keeping with the way skipper Eoin Morgan has led the side over the last two years – and for that Farbrace reckons he should be hailed.
“Eoin Morgan is the single biggest factor in England’s success in the last two years in white- ball cricket,” he added. “In the build-up to that New Zealand game at Edgbaston, where we got 400, he talked to players about going and playing your way and backing yourself to play your way.
“He did that in the first game and continued to do so throughout the series, and I think players started saying, ‘It’s OK to do it, not only is he saying it, but he’s actually doing it’.”
Danushka Gunathilaka and Kusal Mendis were the heroes as Sri Lanka chased down 322 runs to upset India by seven wickets at the Oval and throw Group B wide open. Shikhar Dhawan’s 125 led India to 321-6 but Gunathilaka (76) and Mendis (89) shared a partnership of 159 to set up the Lankans’ highest successful run-chase in the tournament’s history.