England’s Jason Roy has been left out of the T20 World Cup squad
London (AFP) – Jason Roy was left out of the England squad for the 20th World Cup after the opening match paid the price for his poor form.
Roy had a string of low scores for England all summer and endured a miserable time at The Hundred, averaging 8.5 on six innings for the Oval Invincibles and making three ducks.
The 32-year-old has been an integral part of England’s white ball teams.
“It’s an unfortunate timing, he’s done poorly at the worst of times,” said Rob Key, director of cricket for England.
“The game is just as much about confidence as anything else. We will bet on it by finding shape.
“He was obviously very frustrated, and I think ‘destroy’ was the phrase he used. He wanted to make sure this wasn’t the end.”
Phil Salt from Lancashire and Harry Brook from Yorkshire are named as 15 players for the tournament to be held in Australia in October.
Key, who headed the selection process, revealed that Jonny Bairstow would move to open it alongside England white ball captain Joss Butler, allowing Ben Stokes to jump to fourth.
Stokes, England’s Test captain, has missed all T20 matches for his country since March 2021.
“The detrimental effect of everything we do is that Ben Stokes has a more complete role. I think that will get him the best results in those big games,” Key said.
“His presence later doesn’t do the best of Ben Stokes. There’s a great line in his documentary where they say ‘find him in the big moments’ and you want to give him that chance. I don’t think we did that in T20 cricket.”
Mark Wood and Chris Woakes were included despite their recent appearances during the Test round in the West Indies in March, as both speed shooters completed injury recovery.
The presence of this pair is eclipsed by Richard Gleeson, who is one of the three mobile preserves along with Timal Mills and William Dawson.
England will take 19 players to Pakistan later this month in a seven-game T20 series – their first tour of the country since 2005 – with five players not interested in strengthening the mobile team.
Will Jack, a rising star with Surrey and Oval Invincibles, is included alongside Jordan Cox, Tom Helm, Luke Wood and Olly Stone.
Chris Jordan and Liam Livingston will skip the Pakistan Tour to work on their fitness ahead of the World Cup.
Butler will lead the trip but has already indicated that his calf injury will keep him out of the early stages of the Pakistan Series.
Moein Ali will take over as the leader of these games.
England, the current over-50 world champion, lost in the semi-finals of the previous T20 World Cup in 2021.
England squad for the T20 World Cup:
Joss Butler, Muen Ali, Johnny Bristow, Harry Brooke, Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingston, David Malan, Adel Rashid, Phil Salt, Ben Stokes, Reese Tubley, David Wylie, Chris Walks, Mark Wood.
Reserves: Liam Dawson, Richard Gleeson, and Timal Mills.
The English T20 team touring Pakistan:
Joss Butler, Muen Ali, Harry Brooke, Jordan Cox, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Liam Dawson, Richard Gleeson, Tom Helm, Will Jack, David Malan, Adel Rashid, Phil Salt, Olly Stone, Rhys Tubley, David Wylie, Chris Wox Luke Wood, Mark Wood.
