3 reasons why England will win the World Cup and 3 reasons they won't

In 2015, the English cricket team was eliminated from the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in the group stage. It was the teams worst performance at a World Cup since 2003 where they were also eliminated in the group stages behind Zimbabwe. However, the English team has managed to turn it around since then, shedding their overly defensive tag and becoming more aggressive. As a result, the English team made it all the way to the finals of the 2016 T20 World Cup, losing out to the West Indies with two balls left in the game.

Since then, England has prioritised the shorter form of the game, essentially sacrificing the Ashes series in Australia to focus on the shorter format of the game. As a result, they managed to string together ODI series wins against Australia twice, New Zealand, India Sri Lanka, and the West Indies.

The English team is aiming to win the World Cup for the first time, as they have never won the tournament despite appearing in the finals 3 times, the last of which came back in 1992.

However, the English are clearly ready to make a big impact, and they appear to be timing it to launch an assault at this year's World Cup, which will take place across England and Wales. The English have been waiting for many years to get their hands on the trophy and shake the chokers tag that has haunted them since the 90s. With the staunch competition, the new World Cup format has to offer, the pressure will be on to see if all the work will pay off.

Here are three reasons why England won't win the 2019 World Cup and three reasons why they will.

#3 Why they won't: Recent drama around the team

Alex Hales

Controversy is not what you want when you are approaching the biggest tournament for your team, and the tournament only comes around once every 4 years. The English have seemingly been building up to the 2019 World Cup since their embarrassing exit in 2015.

However, the English camp has recently been rocked by the fact that Alex Hales failed a second drug test, the results of which were leaked to the press. As a result, the English Cricket Board had no choice but to suspend Hales for 21-days and remove the player from the already announced World Cup Squad.

The announcement and the fallout have sent ripples through the cricketing establishment in England as the fiasco became the biggest talking point in the country. The series of events is undoubtedly an unwelcome distraction and the squad will be hoping that they can focus in time for their tough opening game against South Africa on the 30th of May. Due to the new format of the World Cup, every game in the group stages will count, especially between two teams expected to be vying for finals places.

#3 Why they will: One of the best batting lineups in the tournament

Joe Root is one of England's star batsman

Even without Alex Hales, the English batting line up is quite formidable. Including the likes of Eoin Morgan, Jos Buttler, Johnny Bairstow, Joe Root, and Jason Roy. Throw in the likes of all-rounders Moeen Ali and Ben Stokes and you have a very formidable looking lineup. Very few teams have such a strong batting line up, and there are very few teams that have had the batting continuity that England have enjoyed.

While India would probably be the closest to England, sporting a line up with the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and MS Dhoni. Australia also has a decent batting line up with Aaron Finch, Usman Khawaja, David Warner, and Steve Smith. However, Smith and Warner are returning to the side after 12-month suspensions. The South African batting line-up has Faf du Plessis, Quinton de Kock, Hashim Amla, David Miller, and Aiden Markram.

The pitches and grounds in England will suit batters more and will tend to produce big scores. This has been reinforced by recent scores in the Royal London Championships with several 350+ scores.

#2 Why they won't: Lack of good bowling depth

Jofra Archer has been left out of the initial World Cup Squad

While the batting line up looks strong for the English, their bowling strength is weak in comparison. Unlike other teams in the competition, the English team lacks a genuinely top end fast bowler in their attack. They rely on Chris Woakes to open the bowling from one end, and occasionally the likes of Liam Plunkett and Willey can step up with the ball. They controversially left the likes of Jofra Archer and Chris Jordan out of their initial squad. While Archer may get picked in the squad to replace the likes of Alex Hales, leaving him out of the initial squad and omitting Jordan completely looks like an oversight on their behalf.

If you compare the English bowling attack to the likes of South Africa, who are led by Kagiso Rabada and Dale Steyn, or India with Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah, the picture is not all that pretty. England will have to rely on Moeen Ali and Joe Root to get them through the middle overs.

#2 Why they will: Familiar conditions

Lord's Cricket Ground in London will host the World Cup final

One thing that will work in favour of the English team is that the local pitches and conditions are familiar to them. England has played 32 ODI matches at home since 2016 and has a record of 24 wins, 4 losses, 1 tie, and 3 no results. On top of this, 2 of those losses came in dead rubber games when they had already wrapped up the series.

Home factor has helped both Australia and New Zealand reach the final of the 2015 World Cup. In fact, the last two editions of the World Cup have been won by the home teams.

The final of the World Cup will be at Lord's, where England have won all their games in the last three years apart from a dead rubber match against South Africa.

#1 Why they won't: Pressure and expectation

The English Cricket Team will be under extreme pressure to win as expectations pile up

If there is one thing that English sporting teams don't seem to handle well, it's pressure and expectation. For some reason, English fans are constantly getting over-excited about their national team's hopes right before a big tournament. The team also managed to make it to the semifinals of the Champions Trophy held in England 2 years ago but fell to Pakistan despite finishing on top of their group with three wins.

The last time England even made it to the finals saw a squad that included the likes of Gooch, Stewart, and Botham against a younger Pakistani side that albeit included the likes of Wasim Akram and Imran Khan. England seemed to be in control after dismissing both Pakistani openers for 24 runs. Despite this, Pakistan overcame the odds and defeated England.

Since then, the English cricket team has failed to make it to the final game in every tournament they have been a part of.

#1 Why they will: Home crowd

England will be hoping that the home crowd can get them over the line in the 2019 ICC World Cup

Another advantage of hosting the World Cup tournament will undoubtedly be the home fans that will create an advantageous atmosphere at the games for the English side. While India, Australia, and other countries will have patches of ardent fans, English fans should be the overwhelming majority in the stands. Due to the fact that England is expected to do well, coupled with the fact that the tournament is on home soil.

While the crowd advantage can't be accurately measured, it usually makes a difference between playing in front of a home crowd as opposed to playing against a hostile crowd in places like India, South Africa, or Australia. Certainly, the English national team will be hoping that their fellow countrymen and women will get out to support them as they progress through the World Cup.