'England still striving for that perfect game' – Jason Roy

Roy, who has two of the top five individual scores for England, including the best of 180 he made against Australia in January this year, said Eoin Morgan’s men were not overconfident given their recent ODI success.

England won the series 2-1 against India and swept Australia 5-0 just before that, bringing up a record ODI total of 481/6 against their Ashes rivals. The results firmly established the No.1 side on the MRF Tyres ICC ODI Rankings as favourites for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 at home. But, said Roy, speaking on a panel after the Cowdrey lecture at Lord’s on Monday, 6 August, the team still had a way to go.

“We’re always improving. Every single game we’re striving for that perfect game,” he said.

“Even in that game we scored close to 500, we walked off thinking we could have done better with the ball, could have done better on the field, could have maybe got 500.

“So there’s definitely room for improvement. But [success] is coming at a good time for us.”

The team’s desire to improve shows in their work ethic, “how hard we train, how hard we play on the field, how we are off the field as well”, he added.

Under Morgan, the team has seen batting records tumble, turning things around drastically since their shock group-stage exit from the 2015 World Cup. This was down to the team’s batting depth and an understanding of individual roles, Roy said.

“None of us want to fail. But we found a way [to put failure out of our minds]. We know each other’s role, we know our own individual roles, and that just makes things so much easier.

“As an opening batsman, if [I] go out there and play a loose drive in the first five overs, I’m not going to get the wrath of Trevor Bayliss and Eoin Morgan giving me a clip around the ears. I know that’s the way I play, and I’m in the team to play that way.”