England will look to become champions of the world for the first time in their history when the Cricket World Cup kicks off on May 30 in London.
Currently sitting first in the ODI world rankings, England’s one-day form has been outstanding, winning five of their seven matches this year.
The hosts will go into the tournament as one of the favourites, and with the competition being played on home soil, there has never been a better time for the Eoin Morgan’s men to do their nation proud.
Squad
England can make changes to the squad up until May 22 but this is how they currently stand: Eoin Morgan (captain), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler (wicket-keeper), Tom Curran, Joe Denly, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, David Willey, Chris Woakes and Mark Wood.
Alex Hales was dumped from the squad last month and is yet to be replaced.
The squad consists of six batsmen including Buttler, four bowlers and four genuine all-rounders.
Everywhere you look, this squad has depth and superstars for every facet of the game.
They have the most lethal opening partnership in Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy.
We know the class that Eoin Morgan and Joe Root possess in the middle order, along with the ever-impressive Jos Buttler.
Quality all-rounders are present in Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali along with his spin twin Adil Rashid.
They have raw pace in the unconventional Mark Wood and reliability on the shoulders of Liam Plunkett and Chris Woakes.
Jos Buttler is England’s key man. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)
History
Despite England’s rich cricketing history, they have never won a World Cup.
They have been runners-up three times (1979, 1987 and 1992) and semi-finalists twice (1975 and 1983).
In the last World Cup, their performances on the grand stage fell short of the expectations most people heaped upon them.
In the 2015 World Cup, they were sensationally knocked out in the group stage after losing four of their six group matches.
They were beaten by Australia and New Zealand before being surprisingly demolished by Sri Lanka by nine wickets then being toppled by minnows Bangladesh.
Key match
The first match of the World Cup against South Africa will go a long way to setting them up for the rest of the tournament. It would be very handy to get off to a decent start against a good side.
Strength
England’s strength is their batting – power hitting in particular.
Bairstow and Roy at the top of the order have combined for two hundred-run partnerships in the second and third ODIs against Pakistan this month.
Eoin Morgan and Joe Root provide a necessary balance and foundation between the fire and enterprise of the openers.
Buttler and Stokes supply more fire-power in the middle, ably assisted by the in-form Moeen Ali.
Joe Denly may get a sniff throughout the tournament, and he will also help prop up the England batting order.
England also have Tom Curran and David Willey as bowling all-rounders. Curran and Willey can certainly become a nuisance for a bowling attack and can strike them over the ropes if need be.
England’s batting order looks pretty intimidating on paper, and Trevor Bayliss will hope they can perform when it matters.
Weakness
One possible weakness for England may be in the spin department. Most of the other nations have two genuine spinners in their squad, possibly with another batsman/spinner.
England have Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali. Rashid is a genuine leg-spinner and is a threat to any batting line-up. Ali is certainly a handy batsman and off-spinner, but will he be lethal enough to take wickets?
He serves a purpose in the middle overs to try and buy wickets and limit the runs but is he potent enough to threaten the batsman regularly throughout his spell?
Crucial player
Jos Buttler. Buttler’s ability to take the game away from a side is unbelievable.
His century off 50 balls against Pakistan was a perfect example of that. His keeping is pretty safe and he will play a pivotal part in England’s campaign.
Prediction
England are serious contenders this year. A relatively settled squad with quality everywhere you look.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see them score some blow-out wins along the way and knock off some big teams.
I’m backing them to make the final.
BLACKTOWN
Roar Rookie
I like Australia and India to make the final.india will have huge support in England .
Paul
Roar Guru
because when I've seen these guys field recently, they'e one nothing to suggest they're anything but okay fielders
James
Guest
You wondered who their superstar fielders are, how is that not saying they have none? Stokes is on any list of top ten and probably 5 fielders atm. Why cant you give him and Morgan their due.
OffCycling
Guest
If by "gun" fielder you mean one that can change the course of a match through individual brilliance then there are three main ways a fielder can do that: saving runs, performing a run out and pulling off a great catch. Saving runs is hard to quantify, but if a team is great at fielding you'd expect to see more dismissals through run outs and outfield catches, which is quantifiable. With that I went off to espn stats guru to look at dismissals in the last 4 years (chosen fairly arbitrarily, but should be a decent representation for this World cup cycle). In terms of outfield catches Australia are near the top with 50.9% of wickets from outfield catches. New Zealand are a bit higher at 52.5%, SA and England a bit lower at 48.1 and 49.2% respectively, then there's a bit of a jump down to India and WI at 44.4% and 45.6%. However with run outs Australia has the lowest percentage of dismissing players via run out of any nation that have completed at least one run out in the last 4 years at 3.8%. For comparison SA are at 5.8%, England 6.7%, NZ 6.8% and India 7.5%. Run outs per innings tell a similar story (Australia make 0.29 run outs per innings compared to 0.49 for England). This also probably helps explain the higher catch percentage of Australia above (more none run out wickets available to catch). Basically the stats don't support that Australia are any better at fielding than any other side, and the low proportion of run outs both per dismissal and per innings suggest they may have a bit of catching up to do.
Magic
Guest
Nah, barmyfarmer there is big difference between gd and gun fielding eng have gd fielder's but AUS have gun like Smith Warner Maxwell and offcource Coulter Nile
Ouch
Roar Rookie
I can’t see them smashing Rabada about too much.
Magic
Guest
Yeah, absolutely stokes, root and Morgan are gd fielders but jameo Paul is right they can't match AUS fielding because if you can see aus just not have only smith, Warner and Maxwell but don't you think Cummins and nile both are also gun fielders do they have ?
Paul
Roar Guru
hi BF I watched quite a bit of the series v the West Indies and was underwhelmed by a lot of the outfielding. The little fielding I watched from the Pakistan series was okay without being outstanding. There are likely to be lots of half chances that the best fielding teams will convert in this tournament. Can England do that - I guess we'll find out.
U
Roar Rookie
They and India are the clear favorites
Jameo
Guest
'Stokes isn't a superstar fielder' - have you watched any ODI cricket in the last 5 years? He's arguably the best with Maxwell, De Villiers and Kohli.
BarmyFarmer
Guest
Yes and will probably succeed, slower ball bouncers and yorkers are the only way to stop England smashing over 350 in every game. Bowl pace on a length to Roy, Bairstow, Morgan, Stokes, Buttler and see what happens.
BarmyFarmer
Guest
Paul firstly on the bowler front I agree England don't currently have a proven lead seamer like Rabada or Bumrah but in Archer and Wood they have two guys relatively new to the setup who yes are unproven but add that much needed pace (above 150kph) and real hostility to the attack alongside Rashid and Co so it will be interesting to see how they fair up. In regards to fielding id argue the England team are one of the best alongside SA and AUS, as you seem to forget Ben Stokes has for a long time been one of the best out fielders in world cricket. In addition Bairstow, Archer and Morgan are all very quick, agile and have strong arms. England's biggest weakness in the WC won't be their skill and form with bat or ball it will be if they can stay focused against weaker teams which has typically been an achilles heal in the past.
Paul
Roar Guru
hence the haste to get Archer into the squad
Neel
Roar Guru
At cricket World Cups, they have qualified for three finals, and lost all three of them and they haven’t made it past the quarterfinals stage of World Cups since the 1992 World Cup. Two quarter-finals, 3 times they were knocked out of the group stages & one time they were knocked out of the super 8s. They are favourites on form, but I think they won’t win the World Cup.
Neel
Roar Guru
Hey Paul. Exactly the point I have made about the English. Their batting is totally fine, but who are their bowlers? Woakes was good yesterday but will he be the standout bowler for the Poms in the World Cup? Rashid is a wicket taker but he can leak runs like crazy. Rashid is ranked at 10, (I think he was in the top 5 or 6 at one stage), Woakes is ranked 18th and the next best are Plunkett and Ali who rank at 33 & 35, respectively. Their bowling by the looks of it are definitely a worrying sign for England.
Paul
Roar Guru
Rather than reply to your "interesting"/rude post, I'll copy my comment again, just in case you missed what I wrote. "I’m also wondering who are their superstar fielders?" "the hosts are an average fielding side at best." Please show me where I wrote "no fielders" in my comment James? As for your claim about Morgan and Stokes being "the equal of anyone in world cricket", I'd seriously question that in ODI cricket. They are not "superstars" which are the words the author wrote and to which I was replying.
James
Guest
They dont have any superstar bowlers but to claim no fielders is being a little silly. Morgan and Stokes are the equal of anyone in world cricket.
Paul
Roar Guru
totally agree Ouch. I'm hoping Ronan's right when he wrote in another piece, the ICC have control over the pitches, so there's a bit more for the bowlers. I'm also super keen to see what approach the Poms take against a top quality attack. In return, I hope Rabada goes well so it's a true contest between guys trying to get after him and a bloke who can seriously bowl.
Ouch
Roar Rookie
I'm looking forward to next Thursdays game; SA vs England to see how the poms go against Rabada and co. Will be interesting to see their tactics against him. Will they try and smash him out of the ground?
Paul
Roar Guru
hi Zanden You made the statement "Everywhere you look, this squad has depth and superstars for every facet of the game" Who are their superstar bowlers? That squad you named has one bowler in the ODI top 10 rankings, Rashid and he's in for a sad tournament if he's going to go at nearly 7 an over as he did yesterday against Pakistan. The others have their moments but are they close to the same class as Bumrah, Rabada, Cummins, etc? I'm also wondering who are their superstar fielders? Australia, for example have Smith, Warner and Maxwell, all of whom can change a game with ONE piece of brilliance in the field. Kohli and others can do likewise for India, but the hosts are an average fielding side at best. It would be foolish to suggest England should not be amongst the favourites and equally hard to bet against them making the finals. Once they get there however, it's a complete reset and anything can happen.