England’s Roy desperate to come back to cricket, even behind closed doors
04 May, 2020
England opener Jason Roy is desperate to make contact with playing cricket, whether or not matches have to happen behind closed doors due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Roy, who was simply part of England’s World-Cup winning team this past year, had a taste of playing within an empty stadium in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) earlier this season and said it was a bizarre experience.
“No atmosphere,” said the 29-year-old. “Simple as that to be honest. It was an extremely strange feeling.
“You’re used to, as a batsman, with the bowler running in, it being relatively quiet. You learn to filter the crowd but then as soon as that ball’s done you hear the crowd going absolutely berserk and over there when that was the case it was dead silence, it had been the strangest thing.”
The PSL, a Twenty20 competition, closed its doors to spectators in March before suspending the competition days later due to coronavirus.
Even though experience, Roy, a destructive opening batsman, wants to get back to playing, with the start of the English season delayed until July 1 at the initial.
“I’m more than pleased to play nowadays,” he said. “I believe it could be nice just to get out there.”
The Surrey player said the British government’s lockdown meant he was severely limited in his capability to practise.
“I’m shadow-batting in the mirror, I’m looking very good,” he joked. “So that’s all I could do, in all honesty, hitting a tennis ball against my wall here at home, going a bit stir crazy.”
Roy said the ongoing disruption meant it might seem sensible to postpone the T20 World Cup, scheduled for Australia in October, but he said the players would make certain they were ready if it went ahead.
He said he was happy to start playing again when asked to by his bosses because he trusted their judgement, describing himself as a “pawn in the sporting world”.
Roy was asked about comments made by Barcelona footballer Ivan Rakitic, who told the Spanish press he was prepared to take the risk of time for action regardless of the virus.
Roy said: “If a person wants to go onto the front line and put himself at risk then good on him but if someone doesn’t want to, then I don’t think they should be ashamed of it either.
“Whatever’s right for the reason that situation. If the country desperately needs us to play cricket to make themselves feel better… but I’m not sure that’s the case.”
Meanwhile, the Daily Telegraph reported that England could get started their rescheduled three-Test series against the West Indies on July 8.
The series was formerly due to begin on June 4 at the Oval. However, the spread of the coronavirus scuppered the plans.
England captain Joe Root and his West Indies counterpart Jason Holder have been involved with talks over the rescheduling.
“Positive ongoing discussions with the ECB and CWI continued on Friday,” a spokesperson for the England and Wales Cricket Board said.
“Both boards were represented including captains, coaches, administrators and the principle medical officers from the respective boards.
“Discussions were wide-ranging including dialogue around revised schedules and COVID-19 medical and biosecurity planning.
“Meetings will be ongoing over another few months to attain an outcome of when international cricket may potentially return.”
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