Vince replaces injured Roy

James Vince, who helped lead Sydney Sixers to successive BBL titles, has been called up by England to replace the stricken batter Jason Roy in their T20 World Cup squad.

Roy, who had scored 123 runs in five innings at a strike-rate of 138.2 and an average of 30.75, suffered a calf injury running a single against South Africa in the final pool game.

A scan has revealed he can take no further part in the tournament.

Vince has been in the Gulf as a travelling reserve. He has not played an international T20 since 2019 but is an experienced T20 cricketer having played for franchises in several countries – though not the IPL – for five years.

He played a key role in Sydney Sixers’ 2020-21 title with an unbeaten 98 in the qualifier and 95 in the final.

He followed that in the English summer by making his first international century in a 50-over match, against Pakistan in July.

However, England could choose to reshuffle the order for their semi-final against New Zealand on Wednesday, promoting Johnny Bairstow or Moeen Ali to open and bringing in Sydney Thunder’s Sam Billings in the middle order, or opt for an extra bowler.

Roy, said captain Eoin Morgan before the extent of his injury was known, was ‘unbelievably important’ setting the tempo at the stat of the order along with Jos Buttler. England have already lost Tymal Mills to injury and arrived without Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer and Sam Curran.

Roy said: “I’m gutted to be ruled out of the World Cup. It is a bitter pill to swallow.

“I will be staying on to support the boys, and hopefully, we can go all the way and lift that trophy. It has been an unbelievable journey so far, and we have to continue expressing ourselves and concentrating on us.

“The rehab has already started, and even though I’ve torn my calf, I’m going to give myself the best chance of being ready for the T20 tour of the Caribbean at the start of next year.”

Roy scored 78 off 44 balls when England beat New Zealand at the same stage in the 2016 T20 World Cup, and was a key figures in the team’s 2019 ODI World Cup win – England lost the only two games he missed.

Vince replaces injured Roy
Independent Information