London
Jason Roy found his axing from the England team during last year’s Ashes series “heartbreaking” but he remains determined to earn another crack at Test level.
Surrey batsman Roy was one of the stars of England’s Cricket World Cup triumph on home soil, with a blistering semi-final 85 against Australia one of four fifties alongside a century in a competition he concluded with an average of 63.28.
Despite his lack of experience at the top of the order in red-ball cricket, those performances increased the clamour for Roy to open in the Ashes that followed in a congested English summer.
Faced with Australia’s imposing pace attack, the 29-year-old endured an ordeal that was halted after a drop down to number four in the fourth Test defeat at Old Trafford failed to bring about a significant change in fortunes.
“I’ve worked very hard to try and crack Test cricket and for it to get taken away from me that quickly was heartbreaking,” Roy told reporters, with his average of 13.75 against Australia meaning he was omitted from England’s restorative victory in South Africa and the subsequently aborted trip to Sri Lanka.
“I’m going to be trying my hardest to get back into the side and prove myself. Scoring a weight of runs in white-ball cricket and then not being able to do that in Test cricket was upsetting, because I really felt like I could. I still feel like I can.
“Everyone wants to be a Test cricketer. I’ve been selected but I want to succeed.” Roy conceded the emotional swing from his World Cup high was a tough one to handle.—AFP
