"I am going to go out there and play my strong shots. I am going to look to defend and leave well. I know how to build an innings"
Wednesday 24 July 2019 06:08, UK
Jason Roy is adamant he has the defensive game to become a successful Test batsman as he prepares to make his debut against Ireland.
The World Cup-winning opener is poised to bat at the top of the order at Lord's from Wednesday and then in the Ashes against Australia, which starts at Edgbaston on August 1.
Roy - who scored 443 runs at 63.28 as England won their first global 50-over title - says the way he saw off Mitchell Starc in the World Cup semi-finals bodes well for his move into Test cricket.
"It's a very, very new challenge and something I have been excited for and nervous for the last couple of years," Roy told Sky Sports Cricket about his Test bow.
"I have been in a good place with my cricket and feel in the best place I can be to succeed. Whether that is the case, I don't know, no one knows.
"The reason I have been so successful in the last couple of years and playing such good cricket at the top of the order is because my defence has been in really good order.
"I have picked up lengths quicker, I am looking to play straighter and later. That should hopefully stand me in good stead with the red ball.
"[Dealing with Starc] was the perfect example for myself to take back and say 'you are in a great place here'.
"He bowled some very good deliveries that I just blocked straight back. I think that sent a strong message that I have my defence in order.
"I am going to go out there and play my strong shots. I am going to look to defend and leave well and go from there, see how my innings progresses.
"I know how to build an innings so it's a case of targeting on the day where I'm feeling strong and where I'm not feeling so strong.
"My whole game is based around my mental state and how I am upstairs - [my success] has made me so much more comfortable within myself as a cricketer.
"I can go out, work hard and trust my ability, whereas when I was a bit younger I was trying to prove a point."
Roy was involved in the final moment of a remarkable World Cup final at Lord's - the 29-year-old's throw from the deep was collected by Jos Buttler before the wicketkeeper ran out Martin Guptill to seal an England victory on boundary countback after the Super Over was tied.
"Everything went in slow motion, it was unbelievable, I couldn't hear a thing," Roy said. "It was dead quiet in my head and I could see the seam bouncing [on the ball].
"I was like 'please just collect this!' I wasn't even thinking about the pick up, I was thinking about getting that ball into Jos as quickly as possible. I have made that throw a million times in my career and this shouldn't change.
"I had all these thoughts running through my head in a split second, it was crazy. I threw the ball in and ran about 20 metres towards the boys and then my legs just gave way! I was shaking, the adrenaline was pumping."
Roy missed three games at the World Cup with a hamstring strain - the win over Afghanistan and the defeats to Australia and Sri Lanka - and admits his absence was "heartbreaking."
But having returned to help England to the title - he scored half-centuries against India and New Zealand and then another against Australia in the semi-finals - the batsman is still struggling to understand the enormity of Eoin Morgan's men's achievements.
"We have worked so hard for it and now that it's happened it's like, 'now what?'" added Roy.
"How do we comprehend it? How do we get our head around it? I don't think we can just at the moment.
"I am still pretty speechless that is has actually happened - and the way it happened. It was a freakish game of cricket. That special feeling is very hard to put into words.
"It is so hard even for us to understand the amount of effort, pride and passion we have put into winning that World Cup. Our relationship is now unbreakable."
Watch Roy make his England Test debut, against Ireland, live on Sky Sports Cricket (channel 404) from 10am on Wednesday.
