Jos Buttler on senior player's omission from the Cricket World Cup squad
Last updated on: 21 September,2023 10:26 am
Roy had two ODI hundreds in 2023
(Web Desk) - England skipper Jos Buttler discussed how he felt responsible to inform their regular opener about his omission from the squad for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023.
Jason Roy’s run with the England side has been prolific. He has 4271 runs at an average closing 40, with a strike-rate that crosses 100. Despite this, the batter finds himself out of their Cricket World Cup-bound squad for India.
Roy had two ODI hundreds in 2023, but the batter is struggling with back spasm issues which saw him miss the four-game ODI series against New Zealand. With doubts remaining around the batter’s fitness, the selectors went ahead with Harry Brook in the 15-member roster.
Speaking to the PA news agency at a Castore event, Buttler stated that he informed Roy of the decision, because the two are really good friends and he felt a certain sense of responsibility.
“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,” Buttler added.
"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.”
Buttler said that Roy will be a top-order reserve for the team. He added that it was the very nature of the sport that some good players had to miss out on the flight to India.
“Jason will be the top-order reserve, absolutely. Harry, we 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's 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.”
Before the World Cup, England face-off against Ireland in a three-game series that begins on Wednesday. They’ll also feature in two warm-up fixtures, against India and Bangladesh respectively, prior to the global event.
England's World Cup campaign begins on the opening day on 5 October when they take on New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.