Jason Roy, the World Cup-winning opener for England, is poised to re-enter the realm of red-ball cricket with a surprise selection for Surrey’s upcoming County Championship encounter against Warwickshire at Edgbaston this week.
At 34, Roy boasts an average of 36.46 across 87 matches in this format, tallying nine centuries with a personal best of 143 against Lancashire back in 2015. However, his last red-ball appearance was during the Bob Willis Trophy in the summer of 2020, where he scored 4 and 14 against Hampshire.
Roy’s interaction with Test cricket has been fleeting. Post his World Cup triumph in 2019, he was selected for England in five Tests against Ireland and Australia. Despite his World Cup heroics, Roy’s batting style was exposed by Australian seamers, resulting in his batting average plummeting to 13.75 over eight innings. A brief stint in the middle-order during the Old Trafford Test didn’t alter the selectors’ decision to drop him for the series finale.
Surrey has turned to Roy amid the absence of their ECB-contracted batsmen, Ollie Pope and Jamie Smith, who along with Gus Atkinson, are being rested ahead of Tests against Zimbabwe. Roy’s inclusion also mirrors his shifting fortunes in T20 cricket. Once central to England’s limited-overs transformation from 2015, Roy found himself sidelined for the 2023 World Cup defence in India and overlooked for the IPL on several occasions, partly due to personal withdrawals in 2020, 2022, and 2024. His last 50-over appearance for England was in March 2023 in Bangladesh, marking over two years since playing in longer formats.
Currently, Surrey is placed third in the County Championship’s Division One standings, trailing behind Warwickshire and leaders Nottinghamshire. They displayed strong form with a recent victory over Somerset and are buoyed by the arrival of overseas talents Nathan Smith and Kurtis Patterson, as well as Tom Lawes returning to the squad for the first time this season.
As Roy steps up for Surrey, all eyes will be on his adaptation to the demands of first-class cricket following a lengthy hiatus from the traditional format.
