You can't go back to Alex Hales... England have enough batting cover for now Jason Roy is such a special talent that England need to give him recovery time But if the injury is far more serious they will need to draw up contingency plans Possible stand-ins like Joe Denly and Ben Duckett would need time to prepare But England would look silly if they went back on principles for Alex Hales By Nasser Hussain for the Daily Mail Published: 22:30 BST, 17 June 2019 | Updated: 22:30 BST, 17 June 2019 Viewcomments Jason Roy is such a special talent that England must do whatever they can to give him as long as possible to recover and still play a part in this World Cup. It might be different if Eoin Morgan's back problem were more serious because you don't want to carry two injured players in a World Cup, but as the captain looks likely to be back in action on Tuesday, England can afford to wait on Roy. I do find it odd that England have yet to tell us what grade the tear is to Roy's hamstring because that makes you wonder whether it's more serious than they are letting on. Better to be open while acknowledging that they will give him every chance to recover. Jason Roy is such a special talent that England must do whatever they can to help him recover In the meantime England should be put in contingency plans should the worst happen In the meantime they should be putting contingency plans in place with the selectors to work out who the next cab off the rank is if the worst happens and Roy does not get back in time to play a meaningful part in the rest of this tournament. That way they can make sure possible replacements such as Joe Denly and Ben Duckett are having enough white-ball practice to be able to step in. Alternatively England could do what India have done with Shikhar Dhawan and have Rishabh Pant in and around the squad. I would not go back to Alex Hales. What has changed since they made a very strong statement about him letting the team down at the start of this season to consider bringing him back now? England made a big call on Hales and would look silly if they threw their principles out of the window and went back to him at the first sign of an injury. They would be silly to forget their principles and go back to Alex Hales as nothing has changed For now, England have got enough batting cover to cope. It would do Moeen Ali, for instance, some good to get a chance in the top three and James Vince, who will open in Roy's absence against Afghanistan, will benefit from some time in the middle. You cannot leave it indefinitely because you do not want to get to the knockout stages and then be faced with a decision on Roy because he still hasn't recovered. Morgan has proved himself to be ruthless in selection and I'm sure he will be again if necessary. In the long term, England and Surrey will have to get together and have a look at Roy's overall fitness because here is a player who could well end up playing in all three formats for England and they will want to try to ensure he won't be hit with injury again. Eoin Morgan must ensure that the Roy injury does not become a sideshow at Old Trafford This must not become a sideshow at Old Trafford because for all their poor form so far in this tournament, Afghanistan have the ability to spring an upset on a used pitch. Morgan's job now is to win the game in front of him and leave anything else that needs to be put in place with Roy to the selectors and backroom staff. The bottom line is there is no one available who is as good as Jason Roy in white-ball cricket at the top of the order, and if England do reach the semi-finals they will want that combination of him and Jonny Bairstow walking out to open. If not, they have to make sure everything is done now to stop his absence hurting them too much. Share or comment on this article: All rights reserved for this news site dailymail and under his responsibility