Jason Roy may not be in the mould of a traditional English Test opener, but it’s time to do things differently, writes Lawrence Booth.
Lawrence Booth is editor of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack and a cricket writer for the Daily Mail
Does anything bring out the inner conservative in English fans quite like Test cricket? I’m thinking about Jason Roy, and the debate over whether he should open in the Ashes or slip down to the promised land of No.4, where the seam is no more, the pitch flat and the bowling knackered (except if you’re England, in which case it’s 20-2 and you may as well be an opener).
Here’s the thing. If Test cricket is your one-and-only, if you resent the growing prominence of the white-ball formats, if you believe that any opener who cuts the off-spinner before lunch deserves a spell in the second XI, then the chances are you’ll feel unsettled by Roy’s presence at the top of the order.
But Buttler is no mug. Since the start of that game, he has been England’s leading Test run-scorer, his 938 not far ahead of Joe Root (875), but a long way ahead of the third-placed Ben Stokes (620). And only Ben Foakes (41) has averaged more than his 40.
This is not to say Roy is destined to succeed. Even now, it seems the selectors are paving the way for him to go to No.4, which doesn’t immediately sound like a vote of confidence. But it is a reminder that cricket’s old orthodoxies grow more tenuous. We can keep hankering after another Cook. But, whisper it, we may never get one.
Put it another way. Who would Australia’s new-ball bowlers most like to face: Roy or Joe Denly? The answer was implicit in Josh Hazlewood’s comments the other day about Roy’s Test prospects: if the Aussies weren’t faintly unnerved by the thought of bowling to him, they wouldn’t bother offering friendly advice about his technique.
In the meantime, enjoy Roy while he lasts. If some have their way, it may not be for long.
