3 reasons why England will win the World Cup and 3 reasons they won't
In 2015, the English cricket team was eliminated from the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in the group stage. It was the teams worst performance at a World Cup since 2003 where they were also eliminated in the group stages behind Zimbabwe. However, the English team has managed to turn it around since then, shedding their overly defensive tag and becoming more aggressive. As a result, the English team made it all the way to the finals of the 2016 T20 World Cup, losing out to the West Indies with two balls left in the game.
Since then, England has prioritised the shorter form of the game, essentially sacrificing the Ashes series in Australia to focus on the shorter format of the game. As a result, they managed to string together ODI series wins against Australia twice, New Zealand, India Sri Lanka, and the West Indies.
The English team is aiming to win the World Cup for the first time, as they have never won the tournament despite appearing in the finals 3 times, the last of which came back in 1992.
However, the English are clearly ready to make a big impact, and they appear to be timing it to launch an assault at this year's World Cup, which will take place across England and Wales. The English have been waiting for many years to get their hands on the trophy and shake the chokers tag that has haunted them since the 90s. With the staunch competition, the new World Cup format has to offer, the pressure will be on to see if all the work will pay off.
Here are three reasons why England won't win the 2019 World Cup and three reasons why they will.
#3 Why they won't: Recent drama around the team
Controversy is not what you want when you are approaching the biggest tournament for your team, and the tournament only comes around once every 4 years. The English have seemingly been building up to the 2019 World Cup since their embarrassing exit in 2015.
However, the English camp has recently been rocked by the fact that Alex Hales failed a second drug test, the results of which were leaked to the press. As a result, the English Cricket Board had no choice but to suspend Hales for 21-days and remove the player from the already announced World Cup Squad.
The announcement and the fallout have sent ripples through the cricketing establishment in England as the fiasco became the biggest talking point in the country. The series of events is undoubtedly an unwelcome distraction and the squad will be hoping that they can focus in time for their tough opening game against South Africa on the 30th of May. Due to the new format of the World Cup, every game in the group stages will count, especially between two teams expected to be vying for finals places.