I’d fear this England team ... so many of their line-up are destroyers
This is not only the best World Cup squad England have ever had, it’s probably their best ever one-day squad.
it is, in particular, a quite phenomenal batting unit and that’s without Alex hales, who sadly took himself out of the equation. They bat all the way down, too, with someone of the calibre of Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid or Jofra Archer at 11.
There is star quality right the way through. You have Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow at the top of the order, whose record together is up there with the best in the world, a genius in Jos Buttler and a captain in brilliant form in Eoin Morgan.
That’s without mentioning Joe Root and Ben stokes, who has so much talent in his locker and who reminded us what he could do with that important contribution at Trent Bridge against Pakistan.
Yes, there are a few unknowns and Moeen Ali is someone who has days when he does it and others when he doesn’t.
But if i was captaining against this England team, i would be fearful because so many of these players can destroy you.
it must be like playing against the great Australia side of old, where we would sometimes get them five down but then Adam Gilchrist would come along and take the game away from you.
With England’s one-day side, you can get them five down and you still might have stokes and Moeen to contend with.
The one difference between the two top-ranked sides is England have that batting depth which india don’t really have, as their bowling attack doesn’t bat nearly as well.
England’s attack can be a little vulnerable but in Archer, and Mark Wood off his longer run-up, they now have those two bowlers with extra pace they have lacked on their rise to the top of the one-day world. When i was asked to pick my squad on sunday i left out
Wood but, honestly, if you’d asked me on four different days before that, i would have come up with four different bowlers because nobody deserved to be omitted.
That’s why i have no issue with England leaving out David Willey now. i do like having a left-arm option and when i was asked to sit in on a white-ball committee by Andrew strauss after the last World Cup, they were very keen to have that variety.
so, it’s a little unfortunate they have moved away from that but i can understand why they have done it because they now have that firepower and X-factor they might well need in a World Cup that is going to be very batsman-friendly.
This is still a leap of faith because Archer has only bowled 22 overs for England in 50-over cricket, but it is one worth taking because if you can strengthen a side then you must do it.
i spoke to Archer for sky yesterday and he was genuinely upset for Willey.
he compared it to when he was left out of the Under 19 World Cup by West indies in 2014 because that hit him really hard and contributed to him coming to England.
All of the England players will feel Willey’s pain today because they are a tight-knit bunch and there might be times during the tournament on a cloudy, swingfriendly day when England will wish they had him with them.
But his absence won’t be the reason why they don’t win the World Cup.
England have every box ticked and it is about how they handle pressure and expectation now. This is knockout cricket and another team could be better on the day, but England have given themselves every chance to win it.