Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow’s ODI opening partnership ranks among the best of all time

While England’s chief selector Luke Wright emphasised this morning (September 18) that the decision did not necessarily mean the end of Roy’s international career, it’s hard to see a way back in after not being selected for a second major tournament in 12 months. It was a huge decision by the selectors, to break up a partnership that’s not only been an important part of England’s white-ball machine but that also ranks among the greatest-ever opening pairs in ODI history.

Ironically, it was Roy’s loss of form which brought about Bairstow’s regular role at the top in the first place. Roy was low on runs in the summer of 2017 and was dropped in the middle of an ODI-packed summer after his ninth consecutive score of 20 or under. Bairstow came into the side and scored an unbeaten century in his second game as an opener in Manchester against the West Indies.

However, among the many consequences of the fracas in Bristol after the third match of the series was Roy’s return to the side. Alex Hales was unavailable for selection following the incident and Roy came back into the mix. He scored 84 off 66 balls on his return and the Bairstow-Roy opening partnership was born.

No pair has opened the batting for England in ODIs on more occasions than Roy and Bairstow have (50). They have scored nearly double the runs (2,922) of the next highest scoring opening partnership (Ian Bell and Alastair Cook – 1,580) and recorded a 100-run stand on 14 occasions – ten more times than the stand with the next most century stands (Nick Knight and Marcus Trescothick). They are the only England opening ODI pair to average more than 50 runs per partnership (58.44) across more than ten innings since Chris Broad and Graham Gooch, whose last partnership was in 1988. Bairstow and Roy’s average as an opening pair is also the highest of any who opened the innings on more than eight occasions for England.

By every measure, Roy and Bairstow are the best ODI opening partnership England has ever had. They scored more runs at a quicker rate more of than any others have. Most importantly, they were integral to making England a ruthless winning machine in the format.

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After the 2015 World Cup when England’s white-ball reset began, Hales and Roy were the ones chosen to lead the revolution. They were players who embodied what Eoin Morgan wanted from his side. They were sent out to score runs quickly at the top and set the tone. However, between the end of the 2015 World Cup and Roy’s recall in September 2017, their average partnership was 35.08 across 38 innings. In the first year that Roy and Bairstow came together after the Bristol incident, their average partnership was 65.36.

The defining evidence of Roy and Bairstow’s partnership for England is the part it played in their greatest triumph. In the 2019 World Cup, they averaged 82.28 in the seven matches they opened the batting together. Most importantly, their run rate (6.73) was only second to Martin Guptill and Colin Munro’s among opening pairs who combined in more than one innings in the competition. Significantly, Munro and Guptill’s average partnership (37.80) was a full 44 runs less than Bairstow and Roy’s.

In the history of ODI opening partnerships, Roy and Bairstow’s is equally as exceptional as among their peers. They have the second-highest average of any opening partnership that’s come together at least 20 times (Ajay Jadeja and Sachin Tendulkar averaged 59.77 in 22 innings). Every partnership that has scored more runs than they have has played at least 19 matches more, and only four partnerships have more stands of over a hundred. All of those partnerships played more than double the innings Bairstow and Roy have.

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Given that Roy and Bairstow played in the T20 era, their run rate is more important than those who played 20 or 30 years before. ODI cricket has become more and more linked to the shorter format across their careers, and as such it’s expected that their run rate be higher than those from previous eras. However, the extent of how much more quickly Roy and Bairstow score their runs than their peers shows their exceptionality. With the 20-innings minimum, Roy and Bairstow’s partnership has the highest run rate of all time (6.88). Using the same cut-off, since they first opened the batting together in an ODI, only one other pairing has scored their runs at more than six an over (Guptill and Munro – 6.43). Compared to their peers, Bairstow and Roy are head and shoulders above.

While we may have seen Roy and Bairstow open an ODI innings together for the last time, the scale of what the partnership achieved is enormous. They are not only the best opening stand of their era or the best England has ever had, they have a strong case to be the best of all time.