BBL: England batsman Jason Roy finding form at the right time for the Scorchers

English opener Jason Roy is finding form at a timely period for a Perth Scorchers team that has won five successive games.

Jason Roy is finding form for the Perth Scorchers. Picture: Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images

While the Perth Scorchers have enjoyed playing at home for an extended period, England opener Jason Roy has also relished a rare opportunity to settle into the BBL season.

The Scorchers won their fifth consecutive game on Tuesday night, beating the Hobart Hurricanes by nine wickets.

The last four of those games were at home at Optus Stadium.

Roy won man-of-the-match honours with an unbeaten 74, his highest score in 19 Big Bash innings spanning more than four seasons.

It was the first BBL half century for the player ranked England’s fifth-best T20 batsman by the ICC (29th overall).

Roy has played 38 T20 internationals and has a top score of 122 in 219 T20 innings overall.

But he has failed to set the BBL alive – perhaps until now.

He said he was enjoying being able to settle in and took the chance to build an innings when chasing only 140 to win on Tuesday.

JRoy was the star of the show in our final #BBL10 match at home! 🔥🔥 He proved unstoppable with an unbeaten 74 🤯 #MADETOUGH pic.twitter.com/eRMZNszFwx

— Perth Scorchers (@ScorchersBBL) January 12, 2021

“I think a lot of the time in the past, I have only been here for a short period of time, so I haven’t been able to get any rhythm or momentum,” he said.

“It’s not easy coming in and playing four games and leaving, unless you are in unbelievable form.

“I came into the tournament a little bit rusty on the back of not playing a huge amount of cricket.

“I’ve felt great. I have scores of 20s, 30s and the 49 in Adelaide, so I have been thereabouts. My confidence is there.

“Today was nice to be able to soak it up a little more – take a bit of time and realise I wasn’t under a huge amount of pressure to score at 10 an over.”

The BBL10 campaign is the first he has played in Scorchers colours, having played BBL04 with the Sydney Thunder and BBL06-07 with the Sydney Sixers.

His top score in his previous three stints was just 40 and his best average 23 (both in BBL06).

This season he now has 212 runs in six games at an average of 42.4. And the Scorchers have moved to third on the ladder.

That is not a coincidence.

They now hit the road for the first time in a long time and have to carry their form to Canberra and then Melbourne – unless schedules change again.

Roy said the team had shown when returning to Perth that they could adapt quickly.

“We just have to take the confidence we have, put it to one side and make sure we work hard – use our methods on different pitches and adapt as quick as possible,” he said.

“Obviously, we adapted really quickly here (in Perth). The boys know this ground really well.

“But when we go away to Canberra and so on, we need to make sure we adapt quickly and to have the confidence we have after winning five big games.

“I think that will hold us in good stead.”

The Scorchers’ next game is against the Sydney Sixers in Canberra on Saturday.

Originally published as BBL: England batsman Jason Roy finding form at the right time for the Scorchers