Jason Roy may have played his final game for England after turning down the chance to feature against Ireland in the last two one-day internationals of the summer.
Roy was dropped from the World Cup squad after a combination of back spasms and Dawid Malan’s glowing form resulted in him being pushed out of the likely starting XI and Harry Brook taking his place on the bench. But he still had the chance to prove his fitness for a possible standby berth during the one-day internationals at Trent Bridge on Saturday and Bristol three days later.
England have instead added Somerset’s Tom Kohler-Cadmore to what is a second-string squad to face Ireland, after Joe Root’s intended one-off outing in Wednesday’s series opener at Headingley was called off because of a saturated outfield.
Speaking on Roy being on standby for the World Cup, the touring party for which flies to India next week, the selector Luke Wright said: “We’ve made it apparent to Jason that we won’t judge him differently for that position as the spare batter at the top of the order whether he plays against Ireland or not.”
It remains to be seen whether Roy will accept the offer – a role that would mean him remaining at home but flying out in the event of an injury to a batter – amid suggestions the 33-year-old, somewhat burned by the call, is now considering international retirement.
There is, however, the carrot of another T20 World Cup in 2024, with England set to defend that particular title in the Caribbean and USA next June. Though flatlining form meant Roy missed out on the triumph in Australia at the end of last year, Alex Hales calling time on his England career since presents an opportunity to push for a spot.
Either way, with just shy of 6,000 runs in limited-overs internationals, Roy will go down as an England great, having been central to the revolution that began under Eoin Morgan’s captaincy in 2015 and led to 50-over glory at Lord’s four years later.
Roy is unlikely to be short of domestic offers beyond playing for Surrey. He enjoyed a strong campaign for Kolkata Knight Riders in this year’s Indian Premier League and signed a two-year deal to play for the franchise’s satellite team in the USA’s Major League Cricket, playing three games during the competition’s inaugural season.
