England’s mad man at the top

Kolkata

For Alec Stewart, his director of cricket at Surrey, such an uncluttered mindset is exactly why a player like Roy fits into the shared philosophy of England’s head coach, Trevor Bayliss, his genial assistant coach, Paul Farbrace, and their gimlet-eyed captain, Eoin Morgan.

“If players cock up it’s not a crime under those three,” Stewart said. “That’s why our cricketers are expressing themselves and not scared of messing up. We do the same with Jason at Surrey, we tell him his talent is striking a cricket ball, to never stop. And he’s good, very good.

“Playing fearless cricket is about being given a licence to  make mistakes. Some setups won’t allow talent to flourish but under Bayliss and Farbrace they’d rather a player got out attempting something than attempting nothing. And if you cock up, learn from it. It’s only when the thought process and the execution are both wrong you might have a word.”

The 25-year-old’s role as England’s mad man at the top of the order has been repaid to the tune of 183 runs at a strikerate of 151, with his foot-down acceleration from the outset not only crucial in the semi-final but also the win against South Africa, Roy’s 43 from 16 balls after that was key and going into Sunday’s final at Eden Gardens, one that comes as little surprise to Stewart.

“In the first six overs, batting first or second, Jason can just kill a game. And I’d go so far as to say he hits the ball as hard as anyone in world cricket; he can be destructive as anyone,” Stewart said.