Jason Roy has no intention of retiring from international cricket and remains hopeful featuring in The Hundred this summer.
The hard-hitting opener, one of the stars of England’s 2019 World Cup win, fell out of favour with the national side last year and was also overlooked in the draft for the country’s flagship domestic competition in March.
The past few weeks have been spent watching the current T20 World Cup from afar while turning out for Surrey in the Vitality Blast.
Roy turns 34 next month and it seems England have moved on but he still feels he can play for several more years and is not ruling out a recall.
Roy told the PA news agency: “I definitely haven’t shut the door on it, I haven’t retired from international cricket as of yet and I don’t see the point in doing that because I’m still ready to go for the foreseeable future, for a long time.
“I’ve just got to score a huge weight of runs and play more. I haven’t really played a huge amount over the last couple of months. You’ve just got to play and play and play and keep knocking on the door.”
Roy lost his full England central contract in 2022 and he then cut short an incremental deal last year to pursue further opportunities in franchise cricket, including an offer from Los Angeles Knight Riders in Major League Cricket.
He admits it has been a difficult adjustment to make.
Roy, who is an ambassador for Spabreaks.com’s and Nutfield Priory Hotel & Spa’s ‘Spa A Thought’ campaign, said: “It’s just new, not being that international cricketer anymore and just being a ‘franchise mercenary’ as such.
“Coming off the central contract with England – being helped along and sheltered and looked after in every aspect of your life, and then all of a sudden, nothing – it’s quite a big change.
“I had to wrap my head around it this year. I’m slowly getting there. It’s taken a few months, but I’m enjoying it now.”
Roy actually laughed when saying the word ‘mercenary’, which has often been used to describe players in his situation.
Asked if he really does see himself that way, he said: “No, not really. I just see myself as a cricketer trying to play the best cricket for whatever shirt I’ve got on.”
Roy returns to the United States next month for a second stint with LA before playing in the Caribbean Premier League in the autumn.
Between those two tournaments he now has a gap in his schedule after failing to find a new team in The Hundred having been listed in the draft with a reserve price of £100,000.
He remains hopeful an opportunity could yet come along.
“I hope so,” said Roy, who was released by defending champions Oval Invincibles last year. “I think there was a lot of miscommunication there.
“No-one was to blame as such but it wound up with me twiddling my thumbs, which was a shame.
“But there’s so much cricket from now until then, let’s see if I can get a replacement gig somewhere.
“It’s not about the money, it’s about being involved in a big competition in this country. It’s just about the enjoyment side of things.”
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