England has made one final change to their World Cup plans, replacing Jason Roy from their preliminary roster with Harry Brook. Roy, 33, was a major element of the team’s comeback in the format as well as their title run four years ago, but his results have been uneven since then.
Due to back problems, he missed the entire four-ODI series against New Zealand. While captain Jos Buttler hinted that he would be picked in the side to face Ireland later this week, the selectors opted against it. This decision could mean the end of Roy’s international career, since he already declared that the showpiece quadrennial event would be his last after rejecting a central agreement with the ECB.
This year, Roy scored crucial hundreds in Bloemfontein and Mirpur, but his overall average of 31.78 in the season following the World Cup, combined with a recent back injury, effectively sealed his fate. Dawid Malan scored 277 runs in three games at 92.33 against New Zealand and was voted Player of the Series, cementing his place in the team.
“We have selected a squad that we are confident can go to India and win the World Cup,” said England’s national selector Luke Wright. “We are blessed with an incredibly strong group of white-ball players, as evidenced by our series victory over a very good New Zealand team.”
“Because of the group’s strength, we had to make some difficult decisions regarding world-class players, with Jason Roy missing out and Harry Brook joining the squad.”
Brook was initially left out of the provisional squad as veteran Ben Stokes announced his retirement and made himself available for the ODI World Cup defense. He played in three of the four games against New Zealand, starting twice, but only scored 25, 2 and 10 points. He has, on the other hand, had an otherwise fantastic start to his international career in the past year and a half, particularly in the Test format, courtesy to his aggressive middle-order performances.
