ICC World Cup 2019 News: England announce final squad for the tournament
What's the story?
Pre-tournament favourites England have announced their World Cup squad, making three changes to the squad that was initially announced. The inclusion of pace-bowling sensation Jofra Archer is one of the three changes.
In case you didn't know...
England looked in great form against Pakistan as they won the 5-match ODI series by a margin 4-0 at home. The selectors considered performances from this series before announcing the squad for the ICC World Cup.
The heart of the matter
Flat pitches are expected in the World Cup so there won't be much help for a bowler like David Willey. In his place, England went with Jofra Archer who can hit the deck hard and can also bowl yorkers in the slog overs.
Alex Hales failed a second drugs test which meant that he lost his place in the squad. James Vince performed decently in the ODI series vs Pakistan, which earned him a spot in the team.
Joe Denly is a much better batsman than Liam Dawson but selectors went with the extra bowling option instead of an extra batsman. The left-arm spinner has impressed in the Royal London One-Day Cup. The all-rounder scored 271 runs with the bat and picked 18 wickets in nine matches for Hampshire.
England has been performing brilliantly in ODIs in the last few years. Having a settled team has contributed to their success in this format of the game. So, there were not many surprises in the rest of the squad.
Final Squad: Eoin Morgan (Captain), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Tom Curran, Liam Dawson, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, James Vince, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood
What's next?
England will open their campaign against South Africa on 30th May. The hosts have never lifted the World Cup in the past so they would be hoping to set that record straight this time around.
Also read - Most matches played by a cricketer in world cup
Follow Sportskeeda for all the updates on World Cup live score, schedule, news, points table, world cup most runs, most wickets and fantasy tips.