Opener says he is mentally and physically prepared to face Proteas in upcoming Sky Live white-ball series after a low-scoring, injury-affected summer for England and the Tottenham Hotspur fan describes Dele Alli's gym cricket catch as 'pretty special'
Wednesday 25 November 2020 15:30, UK
England opener Jason Roy says he's "ready to face a bit of fire" in the shape of South Africa's highly-rated pace attack after putting a difficult summer behind him.
Roy, 30, pulled out of the recent IPL citing personal reasons in late August following a season in which he scored 49 ODI runs against Ireland and Australia in six innings and missed the white-ball series against Pakistan after picking up a left-side strain.
The Surrey batsman admits he felt mentally drained from spending so much time in bio-secure bubbles but has rediscovered his enthusiasm for the game ahead of the T20 and 50-over series against South Africa, whose attack includes quicks Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje and Lungi Ngidi.
"You've got to switch on or you're going to leave with a few broken bones," said Roy, who is set to return at the top of the order when England meet the Proteas in the first T20 of three on Friday, live on Sky Sports.
"You've just got to make sure that your training is on point and that you are ready to face a bit of fire.
"I think T20 is a little bit different - you can adapt and change the way you play a little bit - but the extra pace is always fun to play against. It'll be a good battle."
Roy found some form at the back end of the summer, scoring 206 runs in five knocks to help Surrey to the Vitality Blast final, where he made 66 only for Nottinghamshire Outlaws to secure victory by six wickets.
That defeat - like most of 2020 - is now very much in the back of his mind.
"I finished the summer on a bit of a high - losing the final wasn't great but at least we were there," he said.
"It was a tough summer, having an injury and being in a new environment that is completely alien to me and who I am as a person, so mentally it was very tough and physically getting injured it wasn't great.
"Then I had a couple of annoying dismissals against the Australians, which didn't really help the cause either.
"It was one of those summers to go 'this is where you're at, leave it, brush it aside, don't go to the IPL, sort yourself out and come back stronger and I feel great for it.
"The summer is actually a very distant memory, which is quite a nice feeling."
He added: "The most important thing is that I'm actually really excited for my cricket. I'm really buzzing to get out there; I'm excited about my training, I'm excited to keep learning, so it's a good place for me to be mentally.
"Obviously not having game time is something but mentally being a lot more refreshed is just as important."
So much so, that Roy will fly direct to the Big Bash League straight after the South Africa series and represent Perth Scorchers for the remainder of the tournament once his quarantine period ends on Boxing Day even though - as things currently stand - his young family will be unable to join him.
Scorchers will not only benefit from Roy's big-hitting but his predatory fielding skills and - having come out as a Tottenham Hotspur fan in 2019 - the batter could not hide his admiration for the spectacular flick-up and catch that Spurs midfielder Dele Alli demonstrated earlier this week while playing gym cricket.
"I wouldn't recommend going that way with a hard ball," laughed Roy, "but that was pretty special and the boys got around him quite a lot!"
Watch every game of England's white-ball tour of South Africa live on Sky Sports Cricket, starting with the first T20 from 3.30pm on Friday.
