By SABC Sport
7th September 2023
England opener Jason Roy has backed middle-order batsman Harry Brook for a 'huge future' following his omission from the provisional ICC World Cup 2023 15-man squad.
The experienced Roy was included in the provisional 15-man squad announced by Matthew Mott, with Brook being left out, however, the head coach has suggested that the 24-year-old Brook could still force his way into the final squad.
According to reports Jason Roy and Dawid Malan are the two players in the provisional squad who may still be at risk of being left out of the final squad.
Roy, however, has lauded Brooks after being questioned about his exclusion from the provisional squad for the tournament in India.
"Brooky is obviously a star player," said the 33-year-old.
"He's got a huge, huge, huge future for England, so he doesn't need a lot of advice from me. Brooky has played three ODIs at the start of the year and did well and has got it all ahead of him.
"I'm sure he'll be slightly disappointed about missing out, but I think he'll also understand with where the white-ball game is at. He's a great player and got a great head on his shoulders as well."
Brook has been handed a late call-up to the England squad that will square off against New Zealand in an ODI Series this week, a final opportunity to claim a World Cup berth.
"We want to go and win the trophy and all that boring stuff," added Roy.
"But we want to go there as a group and not have any preconceived ideas and just have a lot of fun.
"There's a lot of guys out there that this could be their last world tournament, so we've got to make the most of it," said the 12th ranked batsman in ODI cricket during the launch of Metro Bank and the ECBs Women's and Girls' Fund.
The upcoming ODI series against New Zealand will be Roy's final chance to cement his World Cup 2023 spot as he will sit out the final three-match ODI warm-up series against Ireland later this month, in which Brook will feature in.
The Three Lions will take on the Black Caps at Sophia Garden tomorrow in the first of their four-match ODI series.