The England Samurai Warrior: Jason Roy

T20 cricket is a format of the game that demands big-hitting from a batsman. It is strange at times to witness those players, perfect for the longest format adjust their technique and skill-set to become much more conducive to the Twenty20s. Usman Khawaja is a perfect example of such a player. It is also yet another example of the demands of the modern day batsman. ‘Adaptability’ is the name of the game.

Jason Roy comes from a long line of traditional English archetypal batsmen, those who pride themselves in the elegance and finesse of their shot-making prowess. However, this modern day England batsman carries a distinct swagger about him. The likes of Colin Cowdrey, Brian Close and perhaps even Mike Atherton would probably despise the new era of England batting. How could you blame them? Playing the game of cricket meant that you were a gentleman. And the game of cricket must be played with true ‘Gentleman elegance.’

It was towards the end of the century that former England skipper Nasser Hussain was reaching the pinnacle of his career. A ‘Silent Aggressive’ batsman, Hussain very much exhibited the archetypical England theory of batsmanship. His elegant shot-making prowess made him a strong contender for the best batsman England cricket had ever seen.

It was almost about the same time that 10-year old Jason Roy boarded a one-way ticket from Durban to England. It was a fairly common thing ever since Basil D’Oliviera had opened the doors for such an arrangement all those decades ago. In spite of learning the gentleman’s game in perhaps the most gentlemanly of fashions, Jason Roy wasn’t willing to play the same old boring cricket all of England had watched and become accustomed to since the days of Geoff Boycott and Colin Cowdrey.

Jason Roy’s presence in county cricket was something of a lion in the zoo. He was a crowd-puller. Finally, it seemed as though English county cricket had entered the Technicolor era after millions of years of ‘Black and White’ cricket. Roy’s batting philosophy was an unbelievably simple one – Put bat to ball with all the power you can muster. But, there was a catch to this style to batting. He wasn’t a pinch hitter. He wasn’t an Andre Russell or a Virender Sehwag or even a Romesh Kaluwitharana. He wasn’t someone who swung the bat at the ball. His technique and ability to play with a straight bat made him not only a dasher but also a consistent performer. He was a ‘Samurai’ of sorts.

As far as I am concerned, there are two approaches to batting. One is the ninja batsman and the other is the samurai. A ninja batsman is an extremely rare case. The two batsmen who perfected the art of ‘ninja batting’ were Michael Bevan and Mike Hussey. The way they compiled their runs, it almost felt as though they were doing it in a stealth manner, similar to that of a ninja warrior. In the case of Virender Sehwag and Jason Roy, the category is clearly the samurai type. Clean hitting and fearless batting. Ancient mythology also has it that the samurai wore little or no protection and carried a 42-pound blade sword that he used to sever heads.

Fast forward to 2016. Jason Roy found himself brushing shoulders with the likes of Joe Root, Alex Hales, and skipper Eoin Morgan. All of the eleven English batsmen have flashing blades. Hales and Morgan too have massive blades that can scythe through any opposition on any given day. However, there is something special about the ‘katana’ used by Jason Roy. He is not that player who goes into battle like his teammates. He is that player who will sever the head of the enemy without spilling a drop of blood.

The breeze in the Wankhede Stadium had almost gone unnoticed by those present in the stands. They had witnessed one of the best batting performances in a long time by a South African side. However, what the Proteas failed to realize was that this was no ordinary England team. These were a bunch of determined Brits, ready to take advantage of a belter of a Wankhede wicket. Kagiso Rabada was handed the ball and given the task of keeping a determined Jason Roy quiet.

Rabada’s pace, despite impressive for someone his age was certainly no match for Roy. 21-runs of the first over and the England samurai had swung the blade. The impact was terrible and something the Proteas failed to recover from, eventually leading to their ousting from the tournament. The Samurai’s second strike was to come a few days later against the Black Caps side who seemingly could do no wrong.

Tim Southee and Trent Boult are without a doubt the best bowlers in New Zealand. They were warming the benches and occasionally cheering their teammates, obviously without the pomp and excitement of the cheer girls. The Kiwi side led by the tough and gritty Kane Williamson comprised of unbridled firepower. In Adam Milne, they had a bowler who could terrorize the batsman with a fearsome show of pace bowling. Bowling in excess of 150 clicks is far from a joke. Express train speed, something Jeff ‘Thommo’ Thompson would be proud of.

For Jason Roy, facing Milne, on an up and down wicket at the Feroz Shah Kotla would be his baptism of fire. Chasing 154 on a decent batting surface against a quality Kiwi pace attack is hard yards. One by one, the heads of Corey Anderson, Mitch Santner and McCleneghan and even Ish Sodhi rolled furiously. Roy was wielding his blade of willow with a stern ferociousness. The Kiwis had not one answer to this onslaught. The frightening pace of Adam Milne did little to hold back Roy. He was not just severing heads. He was doing so with a swagger that an England batsman hasn’t shown in a long time.

His innings of 78 off just 44 highlighted an important aspect of England cricket. And it was much more than the fact that they weren’t pushovers. It showed that England batsman definitely has the ability to deposit the ball twenty rows back. The big-hitting prowess was never absent from the English game, it was just dormant, and at the moment, it seems as though the eruption has just completed.

From the ashes of the volcanic eruption of slogging, there lies Jason Roy, Alex Hales, Eoin Morgan, Jos Buttler, Sam Billings and perhaps even Ben Stokes. And mind you, there are more from where this crop of players came from.

“From the ashes a fire shall be woken

A light from the shadows shall spring;

Renewed shall be the blade that was broken,

The crownless again shall be king.”

– J. R. R. Tolkien (The Lord of Rings)