“Better than ever” Roland-Jones celebrates England call

Middlesex bowler Toby Roland-Jones believes his first England call-up is reward for the best form of his career.

The Ashford-born paceman was named in the 12-man squad for the first Test against Pakistan at his home ground of Lord’s, beginning on Thursday.

Roland-Jones is seventh on the list of leading wicket-takers in Division One of the County Championship this season, having claimed 30 in nine matches.

His performances, though, have been monitored by selectors for a while, and he spent time in the winter with the England Lions – but he did not automatically assume a Test call would follow.

Roland-Jones told West London Sport: “I suppose on the one hand that does show you you’re in the thoughts of those guys [the selectors].

“But I’m someone who tries not to look too far outside of my own game and focus on what’s in front of me, which is bowling well for Middlesex. And at 28, I feel I’m bowling the best that I have at any stage of my career.”

Roland-Jones may be in his prime years – and in peak form – but 28 is relatively late to earn a first England call, particularly for a fast bowler.

In fact, of the 15 pacemen to have made their debut in the last 10 years, only three – Boyd Rankin, Darren Pattinson and Jon Lewis – have been older when winning their first cap than Roland-Jones will be next week.

If he plays, it would also end an 81-year-old curiosity – the last double-barreled England Test cricketer was Norman “Mandy” Mitchell-Innes in 1935.

But he may yet miss out, of course. Nottinghamshire’s Jake Ball would appear to be ahead of him in the pecking order, having been named in Test squads against Sri Lanka this summer without playing.

However, given the first match is at Lord’s – where Roland-Jones has called home since his first-class debut in 2010 – the Middlesex man may have the edge.

“It’s a ground that I love playing at,” Roland-Jones said.

“And I suppose it might settle any nerves, especially having familiar surroundings in the lead up to the game.”

He won’t ever forget where he was when England chairman of selectors James Whitaker made the career-changing phone call on Thursday morning – he was in the shower.

“I had a voicemail left by him. I called him back and tried to act quite cool,” Roland Jones said.

“It was obviously a difficult one to know how to react to – inside you’re jumping around but you end up playing it down. It’s a pretty special feeling.”