Jason Roy, the English cricketer, has denied rumors that he intends to terminate his contract with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in order to play in the Major League Cricket (MLC) in the United States. Roy has played close to 200 matches for England and recently played for Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2023. He has been linked with Los Angeles Knight Riders in the inaugural MLC. However, Roy has stated that he will not “walk away from England” and that representing his country continues to be his proudest moment as a professional cricketer. Roy has played 116 ODIs, 64 T20Is, and 5 Tests for England.
Roy admitted that he had supportive conversations with the ECB regarding his MLC stint. He clarified that the ECB was happy with him playing in the competition as long as they did not have to pay him for the remainder of the contractual year. As a single-format player with no central contract, Roy wanted to take the opportunity to play in the competition as there are currently no scheduling conflicts with England. He added that it benefits him as an England player to play as much competitive cricket as possible. However, Roy emphasized that his priority is England cricket, especially with a World Cup soon upon them.
Roy’s statement comes after reports claimed that he is going to terminate his incremental contract to play in the United States. The 32-year-old cricketer has taken to social media to break his silence on the unwanted speculation. “Following a bit of unwanted speculation over the last 24 hours, I wanted to clarify that I am not and never will ‘walk away from England’,” he said in a statement.
