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I expect verbals. It’s gre
ON HIS ASHES BAPTISM OF FIRE
AND THAT WORLD CUP WIN
JASON ROY
EXCLUSIVE
INTERVIEW
by Paul
Newman
Cricket Correspondent
J
ason Roy is attempt-
ing to get his head round
the seismic sequence of
events that has seen
him scale one massive
peak — and must immediately
prepare to confront another.
‘It’s absolutely ridiculous,’ smiled
Roy. ‘I had my first child at the start
of the year, then we won the World
Cup and now I’m going to be play-
ing in the ashes. I don’t think it’s
ever going to get any better than
that. I’m actually quite emotional.
‘It’s something you dream of and
then when you’re doing it you think,
“This is actually happening”. It’s
pretty surreal.’
Roy, 29, made his name as the
most destructive member of Eng-
land’s white-ball World Cup winners
and is now about to be catapulted
into the red-ball deep end on Thurs-
day in the biggest Test series of all.
First things first. The World Cup
may be over but we must talk about
it. Especially as it was Roy who
threw the ball to Jos Buttler at the
end of the most dramatic of all
cricket matches to run out new
Zealand’s Martin Guptill and win
the World Cup final for England.
‘I’ve watched that last ball a
million times and I’ve had so many
thoughts run through my head,’ he
says. ‘Imagine if I’d fumbled it like I
did earlier in the super over? It
makes me feel sick to think what
might have been.
‘It was like it was happening in
slow motion. I could see the seam of
the ball rolling down the turf as it
came towards me. Everything
seemed to stop. There was no noise.
It gives me goosebumps now.
‘But I knew if I collected it cleanly
and got it in there was no chance
they could get two. The throw was
good enough, we’re here now and
I’ve got the medal. To be part of
that was sensational.’
Quick as a flash Roy was handed a
taste of the ultimate form of the
game in the victory against Ireland
last week but now he must prove he
can do to Mitchell starc and Co
what he has been doing in 50-over
cricket for the last four years.
‘I’ve been speaking to Joe Root for
some time about my Test ambi-
tions,’ reveals Roy to Sportsmail.
‘and we decided to leave it until
after the World Cup so I could put
all my eggs in one basket rather
than get consumed by Test cricket.
Then I had a decent enough World
Cup to allow me to push for a spot
in the ashes. It felt like everythingwas moving at the speed of light
walking out against Ireland and now
all of a sudden we’re two days away
from the ashes.
‘Weirdly enough my Test debut felt
like just another game, which is a
good thing. I spoke to Rooty after-
wards and said, “I was a bit nervous
and it was a bit daunting but it
wasn’t anything different”. He said,
“Perfect, that’s how it should be”.’
What was different was being
presented with his first Test cap by
sir alastair Cook. ‘The words he said
were very special and something I’ll
never forget,’ says Roy (below).
‘He told me I’d earned the right to
be there and how proud he was of
what I’d achieved. He also said he
looked forward to presenting more
caps to me, basically saying I wasn’t
going to be a flash in the pan. To get
told that by him is pretty cool. He
has left big boots to fill. I don’t think
I’ve got enough time to score the
Test runs he did but I’ll give it a
good crack!’
The initial evidence of ‘Roy of the
limited-overs’ turned
Test batsman has
left the jury out, at
least in his top order
role. He looked all
at sea in the first
innings against Ire-
land, becoming one
of Tim Murtagh’s
victims, and then
showed glimpses
of what he can do in
a second-innings 72
made, perhaps signifi-
cantly, at no 3.
‘The ball was going all
over the place,’ said Roy
of Murtagh’s first-morning
destruction of England.
‘you don’t practise a
huge amount against
that type of bowling.
It was like 70mph
leg and off-
spin. It will be
very different
against the
aussies.’
Then, in a
move that
may at somestage encourage England to shift
Roy, he was protected by the pro-
motion of a nightwatchman in Jack
Leach when England were faced with
one over of their second innings on a
bonkers opening day at Lord’s.
‘I was happy to open,’ Roy insists.
‘It’s my job and I won’t shy away
from it. I’ve never had a nightwatch-
man in county cricket but I couldn’t
say, “no coach, no captain, I’m going
in” because if I’d nicked off I would
have looked an idiot. But it worked
out all right and I think Leachy
should be on the honours board
for his 92!
‘I actually felt good in the second
innings. I just wanted to play strong
shots because I knew the pitch as a
bit dodgy. I’ve spoken about getting
big hundreds in white-
ball cricket and nothing
changes in Tests. It
wasn’t a bad score on
that pitch but for Test
cricket it was pretty
average.
‘I will adapt to whatever
is thrown my way and
whatever the attack has
got. If it so happens that we
need me to go on the coun-
ter-attack or be a bit more
aggressive, I will be. I will take
it step by step, still try to be
attacking and positive but
build my innings too.’
The words tumble out of a
man living the dream. He is
sitting, somewhat incongru-
ously, at a branch of spec-
savers in Birmingham where
he was asked by England’s Test
sponsors to have an eye test
ahead of the ashes. Perhaps
unsurprisingly, Roy was found to
have ‘better than 20/20 vision’.
Then his focus switched to his
first taste of ashes mind games.
australia’s Josh Hazlewood
suggested he will find life tougher
in Tests than the one-day game.
Roy responded with a deft touch.
‘He’s absolutely right,’ he smiled.
‘It is a different game and of course
it’s going to be hard. He’s stating
the obvious there isn’t he? But
they’re going to be under more pres-
sure than I am. australia’s attack
have played Test cricket. They
should know how to bowl and
they’re under pressure to get
me out. I’m going in with
open eyes and I’m expect-
ing a lot of verbals. If it’s
already started thengreat. That just gets you going. It’s
going to be hard, it’s going to be
challenging, it’s a new prospect for
me. But it will be fun.’
Roy had fun when, in an innings
that sealed his ashes spot, he
smashed 85 off 65 balls with five
sixes in the semi-final at Edgbaston.
Mitchell starc retired ‘hurt’ with
figures of one for 70 off nine overs.
Did he put down a marker?
‘Maybe,’ he says. ‘It’s a different
colour ball now and different skill-
sets are needed but cricket’s cricket.
The ball comes down and you’ve got
to score runs while they’ve got to
get you out. The same principle
applies to any form of the game.
‘It’s nice to keep it simple. Whereas
in one-day and T20 cricket you’re
looking to attack, here I can relax
and bat all day. But they’re a high-
class attack. They know I’ve played
one Test so they will have the
upper hand. But I’m not scared
and I’m not doubting myself.
I’m just excited to be going to
work against one of the best
attacks in the world, and at
Edgbaston too.’
Roy, who has fully recovered
from the hamstring injury
that nearly derailed Eng-
land’s World Cup, will con-
tinue as an opener for now
rather than dropping
down the order, but
insists he is happy to bat
anywhere.
‘of course I feel tired
mentally but there’s no
place for that at the
moment,’ he said.
‘We’ve scaled the first
peak and there’s one
more to come now. only
when the season’s over
will I be able to sit back
with a glass of red and
look back on a pretty
cool year. I can’t sit here
yet and say, “Test cricket
will be a hundred per cent
for me and I’ll succeed”.
It’s the unknown. If I do
well that’s incredible but if
I don’t at least I’ve given it
a nudge.’
and he will have a lot of
fun trying to climb that
second Everest.
Specsavers, the official Test
partner for England cricket, are
encouraging fans over 35 to take
eye tests and those over 50 to
take audiology exams this
summer.78 THE ASHES 2 DAYS TO GO
Follow on: Roy
is ready for his
Ashes debut
after his World
Cup heroics
MIKE SEWELLROY ON THAT WORLD CUP RUN OUT...
‘It was like it was happening in slow motion. I could
see the seam of the ball rolling down the turf as it
came towards me. Everything seemed to stop.
There was no noise. It gives me goosebumps now.’