Jason Roy Reckons England Need To 'Push Hard' Against Australia Despite The World Cup Win

Jason Roy, the swashbuckling England opener, is looking forward to making a comeback to competitive cricket and face arch-rivals Australia in the three-match One-day International series after having missed out on the T20I series against Pakistan and Australia due to injury.

England defeated Australia 1-2 in the three-match T20I series and Eoin Morgan’s men will now be looking to do an encore in the One-day International series against Australia, which kickstarts at Old Trafford on Friday.

”It is great to be back in the squad after spending a hectic couple of weeks trying to get fit. It was touch and go whether I would be ready for this Australia ODI series but the medical team has pushed me pretty hard to get me to where I need to be and I’m pretty positive my side will hold up,” Jason Roy wrote on SkySports.

Jason Roy also recalled the hamstring injury that he suffered mid-way through the World Cup last summer. Roy eventually made a comeback at the business end of the tournament and scored a brilliant 65-ball 85 in the semi-finals against Australia to lead England to a comfortable win.

”As hammer-blows go, I felt a little like I did during last year’s World Cup when I picked up a hamstring tear against West Indies mid-tournament. Fortunately, I was back in time for our semi-final win over Australia, which was an incredible all-round performance by the team,” Roy

‘It is always exciting to play against the Aussies’- Jason Roy

Roy hailed England’s performance in that semi-final as close to perfect but insisted that the benchmark needs to be maintained on a consistent basis. England have had an upper hand over Australia in 50-over cricket in the past 2-3 years. The 50-over world champions have won 11 of their last 13 encounters against the Aussies but Roy still thinks that England needs to ‘push hard’ against the old enemy.

“In fact, it was probably as close as we have come to perfection in a game, which is a pretty high benchmark. I know our recent record against Australia has been written and spoken about a lot recently, including the 2018 whitewash, but oddly it is not a series I have thought about a huge amount, mainly because most of the series we play produce memorable moments for the team.” Roy wrote.

“But it is always exciting to play against the Aussies; you always get pumped up and I guess I must have been back then. This Australia side has a huge amount of class and it will be another good contest, which is why it is so important to stay in the moment – this is all about how we go about our business now. Being World Cup-winners you have all the accolades but you want to back it up and keep pushing yourself. That is why we look at this series and consider the slate clean,” he added.

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