Opening batter Jason Roy has all the reasons to be let down by the selection committee for omitting him from England’s 15-member squad for ICC Cricket World Cup 2023. Dropped before ICC Champions Trophy 2017 semi-final to accommodate Jonny Bairstow as Alex Hales‘ opening partner, Roy has had to make way for Harry Brook this time round.
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Co-incidentally, captains Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler had both publicly backed Roy before the two world events in 2017 and 2023 respectively. While Morgan had expected Roy to retain his spot regardless of his form, it was hardly 24 hours ago when Buttler had talked about giving him more opportunities to assess his form before the World Cup.
Roy, however, could still be part of the English squad for a three-match ODI series against Ireland beginning September 20 in Leeds. Assuming he performs well in his first international match in over six months, the right-handed batter could still be a potential injury cover for a world event slated to be played in India in less than three weeks from now.
Jason Roy Left Out Of England’s 2023 World Cup Squad
England’s most capped ODI cricketer since ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, Roy is also their third-highest run-scorer in this period. Roy, who had to miss three matches due to a hamstring tear in the previous World Cup, will be missing the tournament altogether this time around unless a player jets injured.
Axed from England’s ICC T20 World Cup 2022 squad as well, the development has left no spot for a pioneering batter across two white-ball World Cups within a year.
Part of their provisional World Cup squad, Roy faced the brunt of missing a four-match ODI series against New Zealand which came to an end on Saturday. Having suffered back spasms before the first and third ODIs, warming the bench throughout the series has proved costly for the 33-year old player.
Batter Dawid Malan, who bagged the Player of the Series award on the day before yesterday, has not only secured a spot in England’s squad but perhaps also in their Playing XI for the competition which will be played in India. Post Malan’s three centuries, Roy comes next on the list on the back of being the only batter to register two ODI centuries in 2023.
“The strength of the group has meant that we have had to make some tough decisions on world-class players with Jason Roy missing out and Harry Brook coming into the squad,” England’s national selector Luke Wright said in a statement.
Roy, who has a strike rate of 105.53 across 110 ODI innings, has been shown the door for someone whose strike rate across six innings is 79.35. With Brook being touted as an future superstar, truckloads of potential has handed him a late inclusion primarily because of what he can do with a bat in hand.
Brook, who can both open the batting and also bat in the middle-order, had scored a maiden Indian Premier League century whilst representing Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 16th season of the tournament earlier this year.
Jason Roy Was Dropped For 2017 Champions Trophy Semi-Final
For those who don’t know, this isn’t the first time when Roy has had to give in to the inevitable before or during a 50-over multi-team tournament. In spite of having cemented his spot at the top of the order, Roy was not part of the English XI in what ended up becoming their last match of the competition in Cardiff.
Roy, who had returned scores of 1, 13 and 4 in the first three league matches, was dropped despite Morgan’s assurance previously. Part of the squad during a five-match ODI series against West Indies in September that year, Roy had scored 360 runs across the next three ODI innings to reclaim his opening spot with a stamp of authority.
“During the Champions Trophy, I was doing all my training, everything I do normally to play well but it wasn’t happening. I was thinking, ‘What is going on? What the hell is this?’ It was fairly foreign territory for me,” Roy had told Evening Standard in July 2017.
“It’s not for me to say whether they were right to drop me at Cardiff. [Captain] Eoin Morgan had a long chat with the coaching staff and decided it was the best move for me, in terms of where my head was.”
Aged 33, it will be interesting to see if Roy gets another opportunity in England’s ODI squad and if he is able to stage another comeback in style or not.
