Morgan: Roy is still our number 1 pick

England

England captain Eoin Morgan says opening batsman Jason Roy is still the team’s first-choice pick even though the Surrey player failed in all three ODIs against South Africa.

The right-handed Roy returned scores of 1, 8 and 4 as England lost the final ODI against the Proteas at Lord’s on Monday but won the series 2-1 after victories at Headingley and in Southampton.

Roy was the only batsman in the home team’s line-up that failed to register a decent score in any of three matches as the hosts start preparing for the Champions Trophy which starts on Thursday.

Jonny Bairstow, who came into the team for the Lord’s game and duly scored 51, continues to put pressure on the England selectors for a regular starting berth but Morgan insists that Roy’s attacking intent at the top of the order is very important to the team.

The 26-year-old Roy has played in 43 ODIs and scored three centuries at an average of just over 36 but boasts an impressive strike-rate of more that 100.

Morgan said: “It’s the hardest thing telling Jonny he’s not playing when he’s done nothing wrong and he scores a huge amount of runs.

“I’m very, very impressed by him. He never lets us down. Whenever he comes in he scores runs and he continues to bang on the door.

“But as regards selection, Jason is the No.1 pick at the moment. Him and Alex Hales have been our 1 and 2 for quite a long time.

“They have had ups and downs but ultimately they have played in the fashion that we have played as a team and they have been very important to that.”

2017 Champions Trophy England Eoin Morgan Jason Roy

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