WHO SHOULD ENGLAND PICK… AND LEAVE OUT?
ENGLAND select their 15-man squad for the World Cup tomorrow. Here Sportsmail’s experts give their verdicts on who should be picked and who should miss out.
PAUL NEWMAN
It’s an unenviable situation for the selectors but we should relish the fact England have an embarrassment of riches for once. Jofra Archer will and always has been in the squad and I just think David Willey is the most vulnerable of the seamers, irrespective off his left-arm. I would go with Liam Dawson ahead of Joe Denly as England’s greater need is for a back-up spinner rather than a batsman and Dawson is that. OUT: DAVID WILLEY AND JOE DENLY
MY SQUAD: Morgan (capt), Roy, Bairstow, Root, Buttler (wicketkeeper), Stokes, Moeen, Woakes, Rashid, Archer, Plunkett, Wood, Vince, Dawson, Curran.
LAWRENCE BOOTH
There is no easy answer, but the omission that compromises England’s chances the least is Joe Denly. They already have a spare batsman in James Vince and a third spinner in Joe Root. And it means England don’t have to omit any of their seamers, all of whom offer something different. To pick Denly because he provides back-up feels like cautious logic, which is not what this team are about.
OUT: JOE DENLY MY SQUAD: Morgan (capt), Buttler, Roy, Bairstow, Root, Stokes, Vince, Ali, Woakes, Curran, Willey, Rashid, Archer, Plunkett, Wood.
NASSER HUSSAIN
The decision on the third spinner is easy for me because Joe Denly should be competing with James Vince as spare batsman. If Adil Rashid goes down ill on the morning of a match and you need to play two spinners, is Denly the man? No, it has to be Liam Dawson. As for the fast bowling, I have gone five different ways in five days and it comes down to David Willey and Mark Wood. While I like Wood when he is up at 92 miles per hour in pace, Willey is the one bowler in the squad who swings this Kookaburra ball and you need that option if you rock up to play on an overcast morning.
OUT: MARK WOOD AND JOE DENLY MY SQUAD: Morgan (capt), Roy, Bairstow, Vince, Root, Stokes, Buttler, Ali, Dawson, Woakes, Curran, Willey, Archer, Plunkett, Rashid.
DAVID LLOYD
You can’t fit a quart into a pint pot and therefore with the emergence of Jofra Archer as the outand-out pacemen it is with the greatest regret that I have to say, unequivocally, after a great deal of thought and sleepless nights, that Mark Wood will be back up at Chester-le-Street. As an aside, if you want to know who the best three one-day cricketers are, I can tell you — Lewis Gregory, Saqib Mahmood and Liam Dawson. And with that goodnight.
OUT: MARK WOOD AND JOE DENLY MY SQUAD: Morgan (capt), Roy, Bairstow, Vince, Root, Stokes, Buttler, Ali, Dawson, Woakes, Curran, Willey, Archer, Plunkett, Rashid.
RICHARD GIBSON
This has become the hardest selection decision in living memory due to England’s current embarrassment of riches. James Vince is in as the spare batsmen, which leaves Joe Denly surplus to requirements. Liam Dawson is the best bet as the back-up spin bowler and David Willey offers a left-arm option for variation in the pace attack, so wins the final place ahead of the unlucky Tom Curran. OUT: TOM CURRAN AND JOE DENLY
MY SQUAD: Morgan (capt), Roy, Bairstow, Vince, Root, Stokes, Buttler, Ali, Dawson, Woakes, Wood, Willey, Archer, Plunkett, Rashid.
JASON GILLESPIE
If England were in the market for an extra top order batsman then Joe Denly would be the man but if they are looking for a reserve spinner, as seems the case, then I’d go for Liam Dawson. The fast bowler question is a really tough one but I’d want Jofra Archer, Mark Wood and Tom Curran for the death and Liam Plunkett for the middle overs. I do like having a left-armed option but, for me, David Willey just misses out. OUT: JOE DENLY AND DAVID WILLEY
MY SQUAD: Morgan (capt), Roy, Bairstow, Root, Buttler, Stokes, Moeen, Woakes, Rashid, Archer, Plunkett, Vince, Wood, Curran, Dawson.