Kevin Pietersen says England needs to back the “best player” in Jason Roy, even though the opener is struggling.
Kevin Pietersen says England needs to back the “best player” in Jason Roy, even though the opener is struggling. Jason Roy has had a rough summer for England and in the Hundred, but Kevin Pietersen says the opener needs help because the T20 World Cup is coming up. “He is your best player and he has been your best player for a number of years!“
Roy has been one of England’s most reliable and exciting top-order players in recent years, and he was a key part of their World Cup win in 2019, but he has been struggling so far this summer. Roy has only scored 197 runs in 11 England games, and he hasn’t hit any fifties. He started his Hundred campaign with the Oval Invincibles with a duck on the first ball, and then he scored just 10 runs against Welsh Fire.
Pieterson on Jason Roy
Before Roy was unfairly thrown out on Sunday, Pietersen said on Sky Sports that Roy has been England’s “best player” and that he needs to be reassured, especially since the T20 World Cup is coming up in October.
“Jason has just turned 32 years old,” said Pietersen. “What I’m sick and tired of in this country is the journalists writing people off at such a young age. Jason Roy’s a World Cup winner, He’s done an unbelievable job for Eoin Morgan. He was told by Morgan to go out and smack that ball. Now with smacking the ball and being a risk taker, you are going to fail. And when you start failing, failing could happen for a long time.“
“If Rob Key [managing director of England cricket] is listening to this, he is your best player and he has been your best player for a number of years. What they should be saying and I think this is actually what’s happening behind the scenes, back your best players.“
Before the World Cup in Australia, England will play seven Twenty20 matches against Pakistan, and Pietersen thinks Roy will find his form again in that series.
“Leave Roy now,” he added. “Give Roy the opportunity, through The Hundred, through those T20s to find form again. Back him! They’ve done it with Zak Crawley in Test matches, Ben Stokes has said categorically that that Crawley will play for the rest of the season. They need to do that with Jason Roy in the T20 team.“
Sam Billings on Jason Roy
Sam Billings, the captain of the Oval Invincibles, also gave Roy his support after his latest loss, when he was caught at short fine leg for just 10 runs while playing against the Welsh Fire.”He’s a world-class player,” said Billings. “We’ve seen him for so long dominate attacks. It’s only a matter of time before he gets going. Today he’s middled one straight to fine leg. It will turn, he’s too good not to turn. We keep on getting him playing that positive way, getting us off to a great start.“