England head coach Trevor Bayliss has backed Jason Roy to bat in the top order for this summer’s Ashes and thinks he can adapt his game to the longer format.
With 341 runs at a strike rate of 114.04 from just five innings, Roy has been in fine form during the World Cup and his opening partnership with Jonny Bairstow has been crucial to England reaching the semi-final stage.
Their recent opening stands of 160 and 123 against India and New Zealand respectively underlined their importance, especially given the fact that England lost two of the three World Cup matches Roy missed due to a hamstring injury.
The Surrey man has only played 81 first-class matches, averaging under 40 with limited experience of batting in the top three. However, his improved form over the last four years at the top of the order for England’s white-ball team will be considered as England continue their prolonged search for a reliable top three in Test cricket. Bayliss believes that Roy should be considered as a leading candidate for the Ashes.
“I think so,” the 56-year-old told the BBC. “Whether it’s at the top of the order or top three, there’s no secret in Test cricket we’ve been looking for a solid combination, especially since ‘Cookie’ [Sir Alastair Cook] retired last year.
“Jason has had success at international cricket and that goes a long way to showing he is able able to handle the pressure. It’s a definite option, one we have spoken about around the selection table for the last 12 months or so. I’m quite sure that will be a big discussion point in the next few weeks. The way he goes about his batting gives a lot of confidence to the rest of the batting line-up and certainly makes their job a hell of a lot easier.”
England will first have to deal with the Aussies in their World Cup semi-final, with Roy and Bairstow’s form at the top crucial to their chances of progressing to the grand finale. England lost to the Aussies by 64 runs at Lord’s and will be looking to turn things around in their first semi-final appearance in the tournament since 1992.
Bayliss will leave his post after four years as England head coach
“[That defeat] was more to do with how we approached the game,” Bayliss added. “We had come off a bad loss against Sri Lanka where we got completely away from our game. There was a little bit of hangover in the next match. I think it’s about sticking to our processes and how we play well.
“To finish the summer with one of the trophies would be nice. two trophies would be the ultimate, I suppose. There’s a lot of cricket to be played and all we can ask for is our guys go out and play as well as they possibly can.”
Bayliss will leave his position at the end of this summer and believes that his replacement could well come from within.
“We’ve got two or three ex-England players [on the England coaching staff],” he said. “Chris Silverwood obviously had success with Essex winning the Second Division and then the First Division. You’ve got Paul Collingwood and Graham Thorpe who have got a lot of experience behind them. I think any one of those three could do it but I’m sure there’ll be some interest from outside coaches as well.”
