Back to basics as Roland-jones gets ready to follow up on dream debut
● Bowler insists he’ll keep feet on ground ● Moeen hailed as England ‘unsung hero’
England seamer Toby Rolandjones emphasised he will be “starting from scratch” as he looks to follow up on a dream Test match bow.
Roland-jones made an instant impact against South Africa at The Oval with a fivewicket haul in his maiden Test bowling innings while he finished with eight in the match, including twice removing linchpin Hashim Amla.
The Middlesex bowler’s contribution went a long way to deciding a commanding 239run victory for England, who moved 2-1 up in the Investec series ahead of the final Test at Old Trafford which begins tomorrow.
But Roland-jones refused to get carried away by his early success, saying: “I approach every game in the same way, I’m someone who looks to be as simplistic as possible in the way that I approach and my processes for bowling.
“It’s a case of reverting back to type, starting from scratch again and hopefully doing what I can to try and help the team win up here at Old Trafford.”
The 29-year-old was given his opportunity following an injury to Durham paceman
0 Toby Roland Jones: Impact. Mark Wood but has been on England’s radar for much of the past 12 months.
Having waited patiently for his chance, Roland-jones did allow himself a moment of satisfaction as he reflected on last week’s third Test.
He added: “[It was] nice to have a day or so just to process everything. Obviously
0 Moeen Ali: Top wicket taker. winning a game in any England side is always going to be a pretty special feeling on my debut. From a personal point of view it was a pretty exciting gametobeapartofandiwas pretty happy with the way that I performed.”
While Roland-jones made significant inroads into South Africa’s batting across both innings, it was spinner Moeen Ali who emphatically sealed the win with a hat-trick.
The all-rounder is the leading wicket-taker in the series with 18 scalps at an average of only 14.72, and former England captain Alastair Cook knows his worth to the team.
He said: “It has been an amazing series for Mo, he is a legend.
“He is kind of the glue in our team. He is the unsung hero in one sense.
“He came into the side a few years ago when I was captain as a guy who could balance the side and bowl a little bit of offspin, and now he is the leading wicket taker in the series.
“He is certainly an unsung hero. His off-spin is actually very good. He’s not Graeme Swann but his record is improving all the time.” Olympic badminton silver medallist Gail Emms has admitted she is “feeling lost” and increasingly struggling to cope since retiring from her sport in 2008.
In a candid post on the women’s sports website The Mixed Zone, Emms revealed that she has been rejected for a series of jobs and forced to sell personal items on ebay in order to make ends meet.
Emms wrote: “I am feeling lost and with no direction, no purpose, no career, no identity and who the hell do I go to?”
Emms won Olympic silver at Athens in 2004 with mixed doubles partner Nathan Robertson, and the pair also claimed the world title in Madrid in 2006.
But having turned 40 last month, Emms decided to publish personal details of her plight, and called for more to be done to assist former athletes facing mental health issues in retirement.
Emms wrote: “I have a big pile of them now. Letters from my bank to say I have missed yet another payment… and every time I open them, it is another reminder that I feel like I’m failing. That I, Gail Emms, Olympic silver medallist, am a failure.
“As anyone else in my financial situation will testify, it hurts. I cry a lot and do what I can to make the payment, sell stuff on ebay and hope there is enough work next month.”
Emms said she has been rejected for a series of positions, including many in the sports industry, and questioned whether there is enough after-care for athletes in retirement.
Emms added:“there has been a lot of talk about supporting athletes postretirement for mental health and, right now, I need that support.
“I feel ashamed and it’s a massive dent in my pride to admit that an Olympic medallist is struggling.”
A UK Sport spokesperson said: “Elite sport has a real responsibility to care for, develop and support its athletes. Every athlete will inevitably have to transition from their sporting careers at some point so preparation for this is key.”