England leaving Cipriani at home
Tomorrow the Surrey captain will walk out at Lord’s with Jason Roy, his county and now country team-mate with whom he has been playing cricket since he was 10 years old.
It has been a long and fruitful relationship, with Burns serving as Roy’s best man at his wedding and the roles set to be reversed later this year.
Burns has six Tests under his belt following a full winter in Sri Lanka and West Indies, while Roy is yet to make his debut to go along with the 84 ODIs he has played.
And the familiarity just might help settle their nerves, though they have not opened the batting much together. “I’ve known Jase since he was 10, so to stride out in a Test match with him is a pretty cool feeling,” said Burns, who will be playing his first Test on home soil. “It’ll be an exciting time.
“In our school days we might have opened the batting, but very fleetingly. We first met playing East Surrey district cricket and then Surrey up all through the age groups.
“Bleach blonde hair and a massive head is how I remember him and quite an aggressive stroke player. He hasn’t changed much since.
“You have to try and cement a place in the side and I’ve done OK but not really set the world alight.
“In the winter felt comfortable in the environment, felt comfortable with what I got put up against.
I just probably didn’t quite cash in and get the scores I would have liked.
“I’ve definitely got more to prove because Test cricket is a different animal. When you’ve got a start, you’ve really got to push on and make it count.”
That is certainly a lesson
Roy has learned in 50-over cricket, scoring five of his nine one-day hundreds in the past year alone. He will be making his Test debut on the same ground where he became a
50-over world champion just days ago, which should make him full of confidence.
The hope is Roy’s hardhitting skills in the white-ball game can be transferred
IDANNY CIPRIANI has been axed from England’s training squad three weeks before coach Eddie Jones names his final 31 for the World Cup.
The Premiership Player of the Season is not injured and has not been given a reason for his omission, which leaves England with two specialist flyhalves in Owen Farrell and George Ford.
Jones’ squad flew out to Italy today, where they will spend 12 days in a heat camp in Treviso designed to help acclimatise them to the conditions expected in Japan.
Jones made no mention of Cipriani, nor Exeter prop Ben Moon, who appears to have lost out to the returning Joe Marler.
He said: “We have left some good players doing work at their clubs and they must be ready if called up.”
It was long expected Cipriani would miss the final cut, having been dispatched for specialised strength and conditioning training away from the main squad in Bristol last week.
But Sam Underhill and Anthony Watson – who joined Cipriani on the outside – have been recalled, along with Harlequins centre Joe Marchant. “Treviso is a hard-yards camp with conditions similar to Tokyo,” said Jones. “Team training will be about being adaptable and off the field enjoying each other’s company.”