England has asked Roy to remain on standby in case of an injury to a top-order batter during the World Cup.
Jos Buttler, England’s white-ball captain, acknowledged his responsibility in informing Jason Roy of his omission from the World Cup squad. Buttler personally called Roy to deliver the news before head coach Matthew Mott followed up. Roy had been initially included in the provisional squad but was left out due to back spasms and replaced by Harry Brook. This marked the second time Buttler had to inform Roy of missing out on a major tournament, having done so previously for the T20 World Cup.
Speaking to the PA news agency at a Castore event, Buttler described the call as a difficult one, emphasizing that such responsibilities as captain are never enjoyable. “I don’t think any time is easy. It’s part of the job as captain that is not enjoyable, whether they’re great friends or not, it’s not a nice job to do. I certainly feel like it’s my responsibility to give that news. He’s a really great mate of mine, so it was a really tough call to make.”
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England has asked Roy to remain on standby in case of an injury to a top-order batter during the World Cup. However, Roy will not travel with the rest of the squad to India, as Harry Brook is designated as the spare batter in the squad.
“Jason will be the top-order reserve, absolutely,” Buttler explained. “Harry, we do feel gives us versatility: he can cover Nos. 1 to 6 in the batting order, which is obviously something that’s advantageous in a squad. But good players miss out; it’s the very brutal nature of sport. There are plenty of people outside the 15 who will have felt that they were in with a really good chance of a spot. It’s a bad headache to have but a good problem as a selection committee when you have a deep pool of players to choose from.”
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