Jason Roy has put his hand up to be on the England reserve list for the World Cup despite snubbing the Ireland series.
A series of back spasms prevented Roy from playing any cricket against New Zealand this month and as a result he lost his World Cup place to the in-form Harry Brook.
But now that the squad have flown to India without him, Roy has told head coach Matthew Mott that he still wants to be considered as an option should anything happen to one of the top order batters.
“Jason has been incredibly unlucky to miss out,” said Mott. “And he is incredibly disappointed as you would expect, but he is strongly keen to get on that plane.
“He is very determined if an opportunity opens up again that he is on that plane. This time at home for him, if an opportunity does come up, I think will serve him well.”
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Roy’s World Cup pedigree is the big tick for him were England to need a replacement, but concerns over his fitness, plus his inability to cover more than one place means that the likes of Ben Duckett, Phil Salt and Will Jacks are far more versatile options and are in great form.
As defending champions England remain the team to beat, especially after adding the T20 crown last year, but World Cup whisperer Mott reckons that title now means nothing with India the clear favourites at home.
Harry Brook was given a late call-up (Alex Davidson - ECB/ECB via Getty Images)“We don’t have any expectations,” he added. “The idea is to get out of the group stages and put yourself in a position to be in the finals.
“We are one of the teams ready to contest and do well but I don’t look at it as defending champions. We go in with the same points as everyone else.”
Jofra Archer is the only extra player to travel to India to continue his rehab with his England career at a precarious point.
“We have been very big on not rushing Jofra back and that message has been clear to him,” said Mott. “He’s desperate to play but he's also realistic that if this thing happens again it could have serious ramifications.”
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