ICC World Cup 2019: ECB announces England's preliminary 15-man squad for the tournament

England, the hosts of the upcoming World Cup, have unveiled their 15-man squad for the tournament. The selector James Taylor and national selector Ed Smith along with the skipper Eoin Morgan and the team’s coach Trevor Bayliss have taken some tough calls. Eoin Morgan, undoubtedly, will lead England for the second time in the 50-over World Cup, this time, with a hope to win the title at home.

England are one of the favourites to clinch the silverware this time as they are playing in favourable conditions and have the team which can topple the oppositions on their day. The batting department includes the likes of Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Eoin Morgan, Joe Root, Jos Buttler and Alex Hales while Ben Stokes is the all-rounder who will bat at number six.

The big call which they had to make

All the discussions during the team selection would’ve been around whether to have Jofra Archer in the squad. Everyone from the top ranks has spoken highly of the pace bowler and he is doing well in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL). The selectors, however, have not included him in the preliminary squad. Though it will be interesting to see how he performs in the Pakistan series which is scheduled to be played just before the mega event.

If Archer performs well in that series, then the selectors might include him in the final World Cup squad which could be changed by May 23.

Apart from him, the two spinners, Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali, were always going to get picked courtesy of their impeccable show with the white ball over the years. The pace attack which struggled in West Indies recently comprises of Liam Plunkett, David Willey, Mark Wood and Chris Woakes along with Archer.

However, Tom Curran, who has been in decent form in the Big Bash League, has been rewarded. While there is no backup for the seven batsmen in the team, Joe Denly is the part of the squad who serves the dual purpose of being a leg-spinner and a decent batsman.

Here’s England’s preliminary World Cup squad:

Jonny Bairstow, Jason Roy, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan (c), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood, Alex Hales, Tom Curran, Joe Denly, David Willey.

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