Top 5 current England all-rounders

England have transformed themselves into a dangerous ODI side after their debacle in the 2015 World Cup

The transformation of England’s one-day international side since the conclusion of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 has been nothing short of fascinating. After being humbled and ousted by Bangladesh in the quadrennial event, a flurry of changes to the side, and several stern measures ensured that the new-look England that emerged thereafter was actually good on the field irrespective of their credentials on paper.

Test stalwarts like James Anderson, Stuart Broad and the Test skipper Alastair Cook have not featured in England’s ODI side too often since then, and the influx of youngsters such as Jason Roy, Alex Hales and David Willey has helped the next generation of England players take centre stage. One striking ability that the English have developed since their world cup debacle is that of fielding as many as nine men who can bat, and bat well.

Much like the West Indies in T20 cricket, the England ODI side has power-hitters all throughout its lineup, right from Hales, through Jos Buttler, and down towards Liam Plunkett. Also, as many as five of these nine men can roll their arm over as well. The number of all-rounders that England have in their midst make them an extremely dangerous side.

Here, we pick five of the best men from the English pack of all-rounders.

#5 David Willey

Still in the nascent stages of his career, the left-arm fast bowler from Northampton, David Willey, has already made a name for himself for his attacking brand of pace bowling and his skills at the death. From 19 ODIs, the 25-year-old had picked up 29 wickets at 29.20 at an economy rate of just over 5.

However, it isn’t just with the bat that Willey’s skills lie. Rather, the left--handed batsman is more than capable of hitting the long ball and clearing the ropes when needed. Although the ODI batting average of 13.80 does no justice to the lower-order batsman’s prowess with the bat, a List A average of 22.70 and a strike-rate of 95.78 explains why he is valued so much as a batsman as well.

If nurtured and given a long rope, Willey has the potential to blossom into a fine limited-overs all-rounder for England, of which the current side had no dearth of. Let us have a look at a few other prospects.