What a haul! England’s five main dangermen at the Cricket World Cup
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The Cricket World Cup is an itchEngland have been trying to scratch since the first ever tournament all the wayback in 1975. 11 different squads have stepped up to the crease, but so far allhave failed.
There’s a senseof optimism around the 2019 tournament, though. England, on home soil for thefirst time since 1999, arethe favourites. They have a destructive batting line-up and a topselection of bowlers.
India, South Africa and New Zealand will all provide ample competition, while Australiaare looking for a fifth World Cup win in six attempts. Victory at the home of the old enemy ahead of the 2019 Ashes would be extra special.
We can’t waitfor it all to get underway with Englandv South Africa at The Oval on 30thMay. And from Edgbaston to Headingley and everywhere in between, we’ll befollowing it all the way until the final at Lord’s on 14th July.
England Cricket Squad
We’re not kidding about England’s chances. They look pretty good. Eoin Morgan’s men are the number one side in the ICC ODI Rankings and boast a destructive batting line-up that is the envy of world cricket.
Jos Buttler,Jason Roy, Ben Stokes and the aforementioned Morgan make for a formidablepresence for any opposition bowler. Adil Rashid, Tom Curran and Moeen Ali areEngland’s biggest dangers with the ball.
Add in secretweapon Jofra Archer and the hosts have a squad packed with talent, complete withbalance and filled with potential match-winners. They showed that with theirrecent 4-0 series whitewash of Pakistan.
England shouldn’thave any problem negotiating the group stage. But it’s when the competitionreaches the knockout round that they need to be wary. Any mistakes will be ruthlesslypunished in one-off matches.
That’s all well and good. But who are the men leading the charge for the hosts? We’ve picked out England’s big five dangermen ahead of the 2019 Cricket World Cup.
Joe Root
ODIs: 132
Runs: 5,300
Average: 50.47
Strike rate: 87.15
It’s notalways about slogging the ball over the ropes at every opportunity. It’s alsouseful to have a steady hand on the tiller to keep the scoreboard ticking over.Yorkshireman Root offers the calm amongst the batting chaos.
England’stest captain will come in at number three and heads into the World Cup indecent nick. He produced knocks of 40, 43, 36 and 84 in the recent seriesagainst Pakistan to take his tally up to 5,300 ODI runs in total.
By his own admission,Root tried some uncharacteristically risky shots in that series. That’s not hisgame. There’s a reason he has the third-fewest sixes of the 24 players to scoreover 2,000 runs since the last World Cup.
But todismiss his lack of big hitting is to ignore his importance to the team. He’sintelligent, picks out the gaps and it a consistent run scorer. If England areto do well, then Joe really will need to take root during the World Cup.
It’s not beenthe easiest couple of years for Stokes. But the England all-rounder has comethrough it to retain his place in the middle order. He’ll need to up his gameif the recent series against Pakistan is anything to go by, though.
The Durhamman has produced knocks of 50 or above in just seven of his last 26 ODIs. An unbeaten79 against Pakistan at Trent Bridge hinted at a return to his old form but moreis required of him on a consistent basis.
His bowlingis also under scrutiny. So there’s plenty riding on the next weeks or so for Stokes,who has been equally disappointing over the shorter form of the game in theIPL.
There’s noquestion that the man has talent. He just needs to show it. One impressiveinnings early on in the tournament could be the key to discovering his goodform as a potent weapon for England.
If you livein the surrounding area of a cricket ground when Buttler is at the crease youbetter have extra tiles for the roof. Because the explosive right-hander willbe slogging balls out of the ground left, right and centre.
The28-year-old is one of the hottest properties in the game right now – and it’snot hard to see why. He’s hit four centuries in the last 18 months, including amagnificent 150 against the West Indies in February.
He’s not beenin bad nick of late either. Just ask the poor Pakistan bowlers who were smashedfor six fours and nine sixes in his innings of 110 in the latest series. It’snot just his ability to hit the ball over the ropes either.
It’s thespeed in which he does it. Buttler has five of the fast 10 ODI hundreds everscored by an Englishman. There’s no limit to what he can do with the bat andwhere he can put the ball. No bowler is safe with Buttler at the crease.
It wastouch-and-go whether Archer would even make it into the squad. But theBridgetown-born bowler made it almost impossible for Morgan and co. not toselect him. Nowadays he’s England’s not-so-secret weapon.
With skillshoned predominantly through the Big Bash and the IPL, he’s a truly moderncricketer who can bowl the ball at seemingly effortless pace. Want to test thebatsman with a 95mph delivery? Archer is your man.
Having said that,speed of delivery isn’t just crucial in taking wickets, although Archer hasthree of those and an economy rate of 4.90 in his fledgling ODI career. It’salso an important tool to unsettle a batsman and disturb his rhythm.
What the24-year-old lacks in experience he makes up for in determination. Don’t besurprised if he emerges from the background to become a key player for Englandas the tournament rumbles on.
One CaptainMorgan is associated with rum. This captain Morgan is all about runs. Not onlyis the Irish-born star England’s all-time leading run scorer in ODIs, he alsorecently became the country’s most-capped player too.
His recentform has been tremendous as well. Rather than reel off an endless succession ofstatistics, it’s easier just to say he’s clubbed over 900 runs in his last 23ODI matches. That’s averaging almost 50 a game.
He has anarmoury full of swashbuckling shots including his iconic reverse sweep. But acareer spanning over a decade at the top level has added a level of experienceto his game which makes his presence vital.
Like Root, Morgankeeps the scoreboard ticking over. Morgan can perform a range of differentshots to keep the bowler guessing. Although he picked up an injury prior to theWorld Cup, it’s not thought to be serious.
