"He has been working really hard to stay fit, available": England skipper Buttler on Jason Roy

Jos Buttler (Pic: AFP)

England captain Jos Buttler stated that England has not announced the final 15-man squad for World Cup 2023 and the selection committee is trying to be loyal to players like Jason Roy who is currently struggling with fitness issues.

England and New Zealand recently concluded their ODI series, winning it 3-1. Batter Jason Roy, who scored 443 runs in eight matches during the 2019 World Cup campaign is uncertain for the tournament as he is battling back spasms, which kept him out of the series against Kiwis. In the series, his replacement Dawid Malan made the most of his opportunities, scoring a 'Player of the Series' award-winning 277 runs in three matches with a century and two fifties.

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Also, another veteran Joe Root, who scored 556 in 11 matches of the 2019 edition of the tournament struggled for form as he failed to touch the 30-run mark even once. With two stars battling fitness and form, they could be added to the ODI series squad against Ireland, a three-match series from September 20 onwards. It could be their final chance to make an impact and present a case of being selected for the marquee tournament.

Buttler stressed that loyalty will be a factor in WC squad selection. Harry Brook could be taking Roy's spot in case of a late change.

"Nope [we are not settled on a final World Cup 15]. Obviously, it changes and now you can let the dust settle on the series," said Buttler as quoted by Sky Sports.

He said that the side has reaped the rewards of being consistent with squad selection and Roy has been working hard on his fitness. Buttler pointed out that no World Cup squad can be picked on the basis of a few games as a lot of thought and process goes into "looking into people as a whole" and the selectors, team have tried to be loyal.

"We just have to find out (how Roy is). The biggest frustration for him is that he wants to be fit and playing, affecting games of cricket for England. You do not want to risk anything but at the same time, you do want guys to play cricket. That is our job, to play cricket and we all want to play," said Buttler.

"He has been working really hard to be fit and available but we now have a few days where we can regroup - the coach, the captain, the selectors - and just work out exactly what we need to do moving forward. We have tried to be a really loyal team and selection panel throughout. It is something [former captain] Eoin Morgan and [ex-coach] Trevor Bayliss started."

"We have reaped the rewards of being consistent with selection, so certainly you take the whole picture in. You cannot just pick a World Cup squad from these four games because there is a lot of thought and process that goes into looking into people as a whole."

"That has been one of the hallmarks of selection but I think we can find out all the information over the next few days if we need to and make what will always be a really tough decision. We are blessed with so many good cricketers in the white-ball game at the moment but in a World Cup, you can only take 15," he concluded.

England provisional WC squad: Jos Buttler (c), Moeen Ali, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, David Willey, Mark Wood, Chris Woakes.

(With Agency Inputs)