Gower backs Jason Roy Test call-up: He is a real talent

Former England captain David Gower supports the decision to hand Jason Roy a Test call-up with the Ashes looming.

After starring at the top of the order in his country's victorious Cricket World Cup campaign, Roy was named in England's Test squad for the first time on Wednesday, as part of a 13-man party to face Ireland at Lord's next week.

The 28-year-old Surrey batsman, who averages 38 in first-class cricket, now looks certain to open in the first Test against Australia, starting on August 1, having earned selection through his excellent form in limited-overs cricket.

Gower told Omnisport: "Detractors will say that Jason Roy's first-class career has been nothing like his one-day international career. I put something out on Twitter weeks ago now saying 'the talent this man is, can we not adapt him to Test cricket?'

"There are people like David Warner who have successfully become great Test players having been one-day players; there are people like Rohit Sharma who will never play a Test match for India again despite the fact he's just got five hundreds in the World Cup, so it doesn't work for everyone.

"But we [England] don't have particularly great alternatives. My view is that if it works it will be fantastic. If it takes a while to get going, or if it takes him a while to learn the ropes of being a Test match player, then actually we're no worse off than we are at the moment.

"I would happily endorse him as a real talent, who with a bit of luck and hard work could knuckle down to it."

Fast bowler Jofra Archer - another standout member of England's victorious World Cup team - has also been tipped to play a role in the Ashes, although he will miss the Test against Ireland due to a side strain.

"Again, Jofra is an extraordinary talent, he's a brilliant talent," added Gower, a member of the England team that reached the 1979 World Cup final.

"While one would be careful maybe about his workload, as they are about all England's bowlers, which is only sensible, again he is such a beautiful raw talent that I would have him in the side."