Mature Roy No Longer The Talented Chancer

Derek Pringle discusses the improvements made in Jason Roy’s game and casts an admiring eye at the power the batsman can generate

Listening the other day tosomeone picking their bestever England World Cupteam, I was interested tohear them mulling over the opening batsmen. Marcus Trescothick, Graham Gooch, Nick Knight and Jonny Bairstow were all presented for consideration but not Jason Roy, surely an oversight given his imperious strokes and high octane approach to getting his team off to a flyer.

When Roy first appeared he was a talented chancer, a batsman with some great shots but no real appreciation of when to play them. That knowledge has now come with time, and dare one say it, maturity. Let’s face it, you don’t average over 40 in ODIs opening the innings with a strike-rate of 106.29 unless you know the right time to unleash the Furies.

“He is as destructive a batsman as there is in white-ball cricket,” said Alec Stewart, Surrey’s director of cricket and someone who has seen Roy develop through the county’s age-groups.

“When he first got his chance with England he thought every ball had to go for four or six, so a few dot balls would make him panic,” added Stewart. “But now he knows that if a bowler keeps him quiet he has the means to catch up later, and that has made him a very dangerous player indeed.”