Jason Roy expects to partner Alex Hales for England

Roy and Hales can be a frightening combined force for any opposition, as they have proved several times with a string of brutal stands against the new white ball.

Hales' national-record 171 against Pakistan at Trent Bridge last summer came after he and Roy had put on only a relatively modest 33 together – but two months earlier at Edgbaston, their unbroken partnership of 256 brought a 10-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in only 34.1 overs.

Of late in both one-day internationals and Twenty20s, Roy has been getting by without Hales, who broke his hand in the second match of the 50-over series against India last month.

But if scans on Monday prove favourable as expected, Hales will be flying out to Antigua to join England in time for the first of three ODIs against West Indies.

Sam Billings has been an able understudy during Hales' injury, and England may well believe there is no need to rush the Nottinghamshire opener back until he is definitely ready.

As far as Roy is concerned, either combination is fine, although he anticipates Hales will be alongside him again very soon.

"Obviously Hales will probably come straight back in, I would have thought," he said. "He deserves that spot."

Billings has proved with one ODI half-century already at the top of the order that he is no slouch.

Roy added: "We've some very good players. There is big competition for places for us three.

"It's a big opportunity for Billings to come in and show what he's got. Everyone has seen glimpses, but he is the real deal as well.

"Everyone in this team has a nice thing going through the whole order. I like batting with all of them. They all bring different qualities."

England's batting, unlike their white-ball bowling as yet perhaps, is in enviable shape as they fine-tune plans for this summer's Champions Trophy on home soil.

Roy, for one, is excited about what Eoin Morgan's team may achieve.

"I can't wait for the Champions Trophy," he said.

"It's going to be incredible, especially being on home turf.

"It's a first Champions Trophy and first major 50-over competition for me as well, so I'm hugely excited. We've such a good team spirit going, so it's a really exciting year ahead.

"To win the Champions Trophy ... that will be a hell of an achievement for our group, considering where we were a couple of years ago with the World Cup."

Since England's shambolic campaign in that competition in early 2015, there has been a remarkable gear change from the batsmen – and among the consequences is a surge of interest from the Indian Premier League in players from this country.

Roy was among those picked up in last Monday's annual auction and is therefore set for his first IPL experience – although he thought at first he would be staying at home this spring.

"I woke myself up at 4am and had a look at the auction," said the 26-year-old, who sealed a £120,000 deal with the Gujarat Lions.

"It said 'Jason Roy unsold'. I threw my phone on to the floor and was like: 'I'm just useless'.

"Anyway, I was lucky enough to get picked up in the second round. It's going to be good fun."

Roy still has another burning ambition too, to play Test cricket.

He knows, however, that his current schedule dictates he may have to make his case unconventionally - with limited-overs rather than first-class runs.

He added: "I've told the coaches that it's at the forefront of my mind, that I want to be playing Test cricket.

"It's on my radar - I just need to score some runs.

"I hope I'll get a good volume of white-ball runs and maybe that can push my case later in the year."