Roy: I am not and never will walk away from England

|| CF DESK ||

Jason Roy, a World Cup champion batter, claims he will never "walk away from England" despite signing a contract with Major League Cricket in the United States.

In order to chase a lucrative T20 agreement across the Atlantic, Roy had to cancel the remaining portion of his incremental contract with the England and Wales Cricket Board.

However, both parties have made it plain that this does not necessarily mean the end of his international career.

Earlier, reportedly it is understood the 32-year-old has been offered about £300,000 ($370,000) for the first two seasons of the new American Twenty20 competition, which launches in July.

Roy was dropped from England's central contract list last year, downgraded to an incremental deal worth between £60,000 and £70,000.

He has been assured that his involvement in the MLC's first season in July won't directly disqualify him from any England matches and that the end of his contract with the ECB won't be taken into account when making future selections.

Roy is still holding out hope that he can lead the team in the defense of their 2019 championship as the ODI World Cup approaches later this year.

Posting to Twitter after news of his move began to be reported, Roy wrote: "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'.

"Representing my country continues to be my proudest moment as a professional cricketer. I hope to play for England for many more years, that remains my priority.

"I've had clear and supportive conversations with the ECB about participating in Major League Cricket.

"The ECB were happy for me to play in the competition as long as they didn't have to pay me for the remainder of the contractual year.

"As a single format player with no central contract I wanted to take the opportunity to play this competition as there are currently no scheduling conflicts with England.

"It benefits me as an England player to play as much competitive cricket as possible.

"Just to be very clear, my priority is England cricket, especially with a World Cup soon upon us. It is for me, and for any player, the greatest honour to receive a cap to play for their country."

A statement followed soon after from the ECB, confirming the apparently amicable decision.

"The ECB wish to clarify that this decision will not affect Jason's selection for England teams going forward. We have absolute confidence and faith that Jason is committed to England cricket," it said.