Published: Feb 21, 2019, 10:49 AM (IST)
Edited: Feb 21, 2019, 10:49 AM (IST)
Former England opener turned TV analyst Mark Butcher believes that Jason Roy has what it takes to succeed in Test cricket, and that he could replicate the success that Australia opener David Warner has.
Roy on Wednesday hit 123 off 85 balls to help England complete their highest ODI run-chase, with Joe Root helping the No 1 team overhaul 361 in 48.4 overs to beat West Indies in the series opener at Bridgetown. (READ MORE: Roy, Root centuries guide England home in record chase)
This was Roy’s seventh ODI hundred – he scored three in 2018 – and watching the Surrey batsman bat freely against West Indies, Butcher saw a potential Test No 3.
Butcher, who played 71 Tests for England, believes that like Warner, who went from a limited-overs basher into Australia’s third-most successful Test opener, Roy has the game to succeed in five-day cricket. (READ: England were never under pressure chasing 361: Morgan)
“Three would be the preferred slot for me. I don’t see anything technique-wise that would stop him,” he told –. “Yes, he is a little bit leg-side dominant but then Viv Richards was leg-side dominant and he did alright! It’s not a comparison but what I’m saying is that that doesn’t stop you being successful at that level.
“David Warner was someone very similar in the early part of his career when he was just a T20 player, everyone was saying he just a slogger and now he’s one of Australia’s best Test match batsmen. The reason why he was able to transfer that is because his footwork and balance were superb – when he goes forward, he goes a long way forward and when he goes back he goes a long way back – and Jason Roy is very similar.”
After the recent Test series loss to West Indies, England’s coach Trevor Bayliss revealed that Roy, uncapped in Tests, and the discarded batsman James Vince are in the fray for the Ashes later this year, what with the team’s top three not settled.
Butcher, who scored eight Test hundreds, backed Roy to fill one of those roles.
“When it comes to the way he moves and the fact that he picks up his hands, that he presents the full face of the bat to the ball, the fact that he goes forward and back and is very definite in the moves that he makes tells me that he could do that,” he said. “Surrey were going to give him five or six Championship games at the end of last season at No 3, he got injured and only played two games but made 70 and a hundred in front of the cameras.
“He has the game to play at the top of the order, I have no doubt about that. When you line up who the other options are, are you as confident in them as him?”
