England fine-tuning is complete as Eoin Morgan's side bid to rule the world

Will Macpherson21 May 2019

Even in the smoothest of Cricket World Cup build ups, as the world’s top-ranked team and having won 11 series on the spin, England have been unable to avoid making three changes to their provisional squad on the eve of the tournament.

They have brought in a potentially game-changing player and dropped an established squad member after he served a ban for recreational drugs.

The final twists have been to bin a bowler who has been with them all the way on a four-year cycle of relentless improvement and to select a batsman as third spinner, then drop him for a spinner they have not picked this year.

Do not let anyone tell you life is ever quiet in English cricket, especially when a World Cup looms.

And yet, still, England are the picture of calm. They are not about to drop the captain, then change their strategy on the eve of the tournament as in 2015, or trade a superb opener, Nick Knight, for Nasser Hussain, the pinch blocker, like they did in 1999.

England Cricket World Cup 2019 squad

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This team might have got into trouble on a pedalo, like Andrew Flintoff et al in 2007, when they were a rather wilder outfit two years ago, but they would not now.

There is no Ian Austin or Vince Wells; this is a squad capable of winning England’s first World Cup. In fact, given the tournament’s location and the team’s form, it would be a disappointment if they did not.

Let us deal with Jofra Archer first. It was sensible not to name him in the provisional squad for the tournament on April 17 because he had not played international cricket. But England knew that as soon as he did, they would not need much excuse to pick him.

He has bowled just 26 overs so far, but has exhibited searing pace, a brutish bouncer, that nasty yorker and swing. For a fortnight, it has not been a question of whether he made the squad, just who he replaced.

David Willey is that desperately unfortunate man. One of the first pillars of England’s ODI rebirth in 2015, along with the desire for hard-hitting openers, was the need to move away from a homogenous attack of right-arm seamers.

Despite attempts from Reece Topley and Sam Curran, Willey has been the left-armer of choice since then and his variation will be missed at the World Cup.

But England could not leave any of their other seamers out.

Chris Woakes and Liam Plunkett have been the key men since the last World Cup, Mark Wood made an irresistible case in the Caribbean, despite his modest career numbers, and Tom Curran timed his run perfectly against Pakistan.

England's 15-man World Cup squad

Eoin Morgan (Middlesex) captain, Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Jofra Archer (Sussex), Jonny Bairstow(Yorkshire), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Tom Curran (Surrey), Liam Dawson (Hampshire), Liam Plunkett (Surrey), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), Ben Stokes (Durham), James Vince (Hampshire), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire), Mark Wood (Durham)

Although Willey’s batting has never quite lived up to the hype, he has expanded his bowling and can now nail wide yorkers at the death, as he showed recently in Southampton.

But in gaining half a yard of pace, he has lost some of his new-ball swing — he has just five powerplay wickets since the start of last year — and England are well-stocked in that department.

Willey is said to be devastated, which is no surprise. He is a fiery spirit — it was Willey who most directly questioned Archer’s inclusion in public — but must park his disappointment fast.

At 11 games, this is a long tournament and injuries are likely. He may yet play a part.

Willey could have survived, with Archer replacing Joe Denly, but England seemed set on their final spot going to a spin-bowling utility player. For this, despite real conviction among management — not just Ed Smith — that Denly was their man, he always looked a square peg for a round hole.

He is a fine cricketer, but had been out of international cricket for a decade and is not a World Cup spinner. Morgan seemed to decide that early on against Pakistan and this decision appears to be another reminder of the skipper’s all-reaching influence on the squad.

And so Liam Dawson’s superb One-Day Cup — 274 runs, including a century, 18 wickets at an economy of 4.1 — brought him back into the frame. He was unfortunate to be usurped by Denly after injuring his side in Sri Lanka in October and is a far more natural understudy for Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid than Denly.

The only thing that is odd is that England have waited this long to bring him back in.

So, while James Vince’s lack of international experience makes him a downgrade on Alex Hales and his seven ODI centuries, the final squad looks better than the provisional one. And whether England win the World Cup or not is unlikely to hinge on Liam Dawson or Joe Denly’s presence in the squad.

That will come down to whether they can hold their nerve when the tournament arrives. They have never been in better shape to do so, but it remains the great unknown.

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