Roy will continue as Ashes opener, hints Bayliss

Trevor Bayliss says Jason Roy will continue to open the batting for England during the third Ashes Test against Australia this week.
Roy was thrust into the Test team ahead of the Ashes after his fine form for the ODI side at the World Cup and impressed on his debut, scoring 72 in the second innings from number three in the victory over Ireland.
However, the 29-year-old has averaged just 10 with the bat during the opening two Ashes Tests and that has led to speculation that England might reshuffle their batting line-up and have him come in lower down the order.
Bayliss does feel Roy might be better suited coming in later in the innings but he has indicated the Surrey man will continue to open the batting at Headingley, which is due to get under way on Thursday.
“Personally I think he probably is suited to the middle order but we’ve selected him for the top of the order on his form and experience in the one-day team,” Bayliss confirmed.
“I think at the start of his one-day career he missed out a few times as well and it took him a little while to get the hang of it.
“So the possibility of him playing again at the top of the order doesn’t really concern us – we know what he can do when he does play well.”
England’s batting line-up, as a whole has been criticised during the series but Bayliss is convinced they have selected the best players for the job.
“We think we’ve got the best seven batters available to us at the moment in England,” the 56-year-old added. “Whether we can change that around and make it any better, I’m not sure.”
Latest
-
News
ICC Player of the Month nominations for March announced
Winners of the player of the month awards will be announced every second Monday of the month on the ICC’s digital channels.
-
News
Billy Root overshadows brother Joe as England captain suffers against Glamorgan
The visitors closed the second day with the upper hand at Headingley.
-
News
Sadiq Khan hoping to attract future IPL matches to London
London has staged NFL, MLB and NBA matches in London in the past and the London Mayor hopes IPL matches can also be staged in the capital.
-
News
Dan Lawrence shows early touch as Essex start strongly in Championship
There were big hundreds for Sam Robson, Tom Haines and James Vince.
-
News
Sachin Tendulkar thanks medical staff after returning home from hospital
Tendulkar was admitted to hospital last week after revealing he had tested positive for Covid-19 and had been in quarantine at home.
-
News
New Zealand name squad for their Test tour of England
New Zealand have named a 20-player squad for their tour of England, with three uncapped prospects in the group.
-
News
Jamie Porter hoping for England call after picking James Anderson’s brain
Porter was close to his England debut against India three years ago but has fallen down the pecking order.
-
News
ICC Rankings: Fakhar Zaman on the charge in ODIs
Fakhar Zaman has scored back-to-back ODI centuries in South Africa and is in red-hot form.
-
News
ICC pressing ahead with plans for T20 World Cup in India despite Covid-19 spike
Acting chief executive Geoff Allardice says the ICC is “not anywhere near” activating any contingency plans.
-
News
Matt Parkinson takes positives from England tour despite lack of game time
Parkinson did not see competitive action in Sri Lanka or India.