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

England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has finalised the 15-man World Cup squad starting from 30th May. As expected, Jofra Archer has made after being impressive in the limited chances he got during the recently concluded ODI series against Pakistan. Archer’s entry into the squad has left the seamer David Willey as the biggest casualty. Willey will consider himself unlucky for having missed the bus at the eleventh hour after all the hard work he did over the past few years.  England will take on South Africa at the Kennington Oval on the opening day.

Archer made his international debut just recently and has played three ODIs and a T20I so far. He took two wickets in two matches against Pakistan in the ODI series that England won 4-0.

“I hadn’t seen [Archer] play live before but he’s certainly lived up to expectations. He’s got good control, good pace and he can bowl in all the three phases of the match,” England head coach Trevor Bayliss was quoted as saying by the Guardian just before the meeting for the selection began. Willey, on the other hand, made his debut for England after the 2015 WC and played 46 games in the last four years, picking 52 scalps at an average of 36.32.

Dawson gets lucky

Besides Willey, the all-rounder Joe Denly has also been dropped as he was replaced by Hampshire’s in-form spinner Liam Dawson who was also recently backed by the coach Bayliss. Dawson, a left-arm spinner who last played for England in October 2018, could be a replacement for either Moeen Ali or Adil Rashid in case any of them gets injured. Denly though also will deem himself unlucky after limited opportunities in Pakistan series.

James Vince’ inclusion is no surprise after his exceptional form in the domestic One-Day Cup and also impressed in the three ODI which he played recently. The rest of the England squad is the same as this looks the best possible group for them to win the 50-over World Cup for the first time.

England’s final World Cup squad: Eoin Morgan (c), Jason Roy, James Vince, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wk), Liam Dawson, Jofra Archer, Liam Plunkett, Chris Woakes, Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid, Tom Curran, Mark Wood.

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