JASON ROY still gets emotional when thinking about the roller-coaster of fortunes he endured last summer.
But the big-hitting batsman is certain he wants to play Test cricket again.
Roy says his struggles in last year’s Ashes, when he was dropped for the final Test on his home ground at The Oval, were “heartbreaking”.
But his desire to prove himself as a red-ball batsman is undiminished.
The Surrey man’s troubles against Australian fast bowlers Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood came just weeks after his throw to wicketkeeper Jos Buttler helped complete the run-out that won England the World Cup.
Even that never-to-be-forgotten moment followed the anguish of a hamstring injury that threatened to end Roy’s tournament.
He said: “It was absolutely ridiculous. I’ve never before felt so high and so low in such a short period, especially on such a huge scale.
“It brings back some strange emotions even now thinking back to it.
“But it’s part of being a professional sportsman and you have to overcome these sorts of things.
“I’m 29 and still have a few more years to give Test cricket a crack. So let’s see — onwards and upwards.”
Roy made 72 on his Test debut against Ireland but then, in four Ashes Tests, his highest score was 31. This from a man with nine one-day centuries and a strike-rate in Twenty20 internationals of 147.
He was asked to open in Tests — the role he performs with such devastating effect in white-ball cricket.
But it did not work and if he plays Test cricket again, he wants to be a middle-order batsman.
Roy explained: “The boys have got opening pretty well covered now.
“They’ve found a nice couple of players to fill that spot — the likes of Dom Sibley and Zak Crawley.
“I worked very, very hard to try to crack the nut in Test cricket and for it to be taken away from me that quickly after a couple of bad scores was really heartbreaking.
“So there’s no doubt in my mind I’ll be trying my hardest to get back into the side and prove things to myself more than anything.
“Scoring the weight of runs in white-ball cricket and not being able to do that in Tests was upsetting because I really felt I could.
“I still feel I can but I need to fight for my position again.
“Test cricket is the pinnacle, so it’s hard for me to sit back and realise I haven’t quite succeeded at it.
“I’ve been selected but I want to succeed. I definitely have the hunger to play Test cricket again.”
‘NO ATMOSPHERE, STRANGE FEELING’
England’s best chance of playing this summer is behind closed doors — something of which Roy has recent experience.
He was involved in a game in the Pakistan Super League in March during the early days of the coronavirus and recalls the eerily silent stadium.
Roy revealed: “There was no atmosphere. It was a very strange feeling.
“As a batsman, you learn to block out the crowd when the bowler’s running in but, as soon as that ball is done, you can normally hear the crowd going berserk.
“Over there, it was just like dead silence. It was just very strange and quite hard to get up for.
“The security was ridiculous, even before the virus.
“We were in armour-plated vehicles and told it wasn’t a good idea, for safety reasons, to go downstairs to the restaurant or cafe or be around the general public.
“So I was stuck in my room. It was quite boring — but good practice for the isolation we’re going through now.
“I’m more than happy to play behind closed doors this summer. Just playing cricket again would be an incredible feeling — I’d feel like a kid again.”
