ABU DHABI: Jason Roy has been ruled out of the rest of England’s T20 World Cup campaign after scans revealed he has a torn calf muscle.
He has been replaced in the squad by James Vince, who was one of two remaining travelling reserves along with Liam Dawson, and approved by the ICC’s Event Technical Committee.
Roy suffered the injury during England’s defeat in their final Super 12s game against South Africa, first holding the muscle while fielding before pulling up lame while running a single in the fifth over of their chase.
“I’m gutted to be ruled out of the World Cup. It is a bitter pill to swallow,” Roy said, adding, “I will be staying on to support the boys, and hopefully, we can go all the way and lift that trophy.”
“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,” he added. The five-match series against West Indies begins in January.
England could replace Roy with Vince in a like-for-like swap but appear more likely to bring Sam Billings – an unused squad member – into their middle order, promoting either Jonny Bairstow or Dawid Malan to open. They will also consider bringing in a seam-bowling allrounder as Roy’s replacement – either David Willey or Tom Curran – to bat at No. 7 or 8.
Roy scored 123 runs across England’s five games in the Super 12s stage, with a high score of 61 against Bangladesh. The Surrey batsman’s influence in big matches was demonstrated at the 2019 50-over World Cup, when his comeback fired England to victory.
