Archer in World Cup squad as Willey and Denly miss out

JOFR A Archer’s late bid for an World Cup place was rewarded when the Sussex fast bowler was named in hosts England’s 15-man squad for the tourna ment a nnounced on Tuesday.

Barbados-born Archer only became qualified for England in March and has played just three one-day internationals.

He edged out left-arm quick David Willey, a veteran of 46 ODIs, after both pacemen featured during England’s 4-0 series win at home to Pakistan which concluded on Sunday.

There was no place also in a squad, again captained by Eoin Morgan, for back-up spinner and batsman Joe Denly, with Hampshire slow leftarmer Liam Dawson – who did not feature against Pakistan – recalled as cover for Adil Rashid, who is nursing a shoulder problem.

Both Denly and Willey were named in England’s provisional squad, as was opener Alex Hales.

James Vince came in after England decided a g a i nst selecting Hales following the Nottinghamshire batsman’s ban for recreational drug use.

E n g l a nd r e duc e d t he i r qua l i f ic at ion per iod f rom seven years to three, a move t hey i nsisted was solely to bring t hem into line wit h t he rest of t he world rat her t han advance the selection of paceman Archer – whose father is English.

Even though Willey offered a dif ferent angle of attack as t he on ly lef t-a r m qu ick i n contention, Archer’s abilit y to bowl at 90 mph – and his variet y of slower balls – has seen him get the nod.

Willey, who has helped England climb to the top of the ODI rankings following their first-round exit at the 2015 World Cup, was among those who questioned the prospect of Archer playing for England at this year’s edition when the Sussex quick became eligible in March.

“It’s a group of players that have been together for three or four years that have got us to No1,” said Willey, the son of former England batsman Peter Willey.

“And there’s a reason for that. Whether someone should just walk in at the drop of a hat because they are available, whether that’s the right thing, I don’t know.”

England are bidding to win the World Cup for the first time.

They now have two warmup matches, against Austra lia in Southampton on Saturday and Afghanistan at The O v a l on Monday b e f or e lau nch i ng t he tou r na ment aga inst Sout h A f r ica at The Oval on May 30.

England World Cup squad:

Eoi n Morga n (Middlesex, capt), Moeen Ali ( Worcestershire), Jofra Archer (Sussex), Jonny Bai rstow ( Yorkshi re), J o s But t l e r ( L a nc a s h i r e , wkt), Tom Curra n (Sur rey), Liam Dawson (Hampshire), Liam Plunkett (Surrey), Adil Rashid ( Yorkshire), Joe Root ( Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), Ben Stokes (Durha m), Ja mes V i nce ( Ha mpshi re), C h r i s Woa k e s ( Wa r w ic kshire), Mark Wood (Durham).