England look ready for the 2019 ICC World Cup

The ICC limited overs Cricket World Cup has always been the centrepiece of international cricket. As we head into 2018, the wait for the next cricketing extravaganza is slowly coming to an end with the next World Cup just 18 months away. This edition will be hosted by England and Wales and might probably become the tournament where the ‘inventors’ of the game finally get their hands on the most coveted prize in the sport.

Over the years, English cricket has seen quite a few ups in the longest format of the game but their performance in limited overs cricket has been average. But the last 24 months has seen a major turnaround. The improvement was for all to see in the recently completed calendar year where the side led by Eoin Morgan had won more than 70% of the ODIs they played and ended the year as the third ranked limited overs team in the ICC rankings.

This turnaround has mostly been about the philosophy that seems to drive this present English side. The England ODI team has traditionally lacked a much needed component in modern limited overs cricket: batting aggression. But the present lot has shown plenty of it. The likes of Alex Hales, Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler have the fire power to make mincemeat of any bowling lineup.

Though JJ Roy hasn’t been as consistent as the names above, his magnificent 180 of 150 balls against a fiery Aussie pace attack last week showed exactly what he is capable of doing on his day. When we add the class and experience of Joe Root and Eoin Morgan to this group, this batting lineup looks as balanced and dangerous as any going around at the moment.

Another aspect to England’s recent success has been the performance of their all-rounders and the name which automatically comes to mind is Ben Stokes. Stokes has had a meteoric rise in international cricket of late and has emerged as arguably the best all-rounder in the world today across formats.

Though primarily a batsman, he can be deceptively quick with the ball in hand and can be an extremely handy fourth seamer in English conditions. Of course, the entire country would be hoping that he gets over all the out of field happenings around him and get back into the side as soon as possible. Another all-rounder who has quietly become a regular in this side has been Moeen Ali.

Ali has been a perfect no.7 for this team and provided variety to the bowling attack with his underrated off spin bowling.

Bowling is perhaps the weakest link in this team due to the lack of experience and frequent injuries to their fast bowlers. However, familiarity with the conditions might compensate for the lack of experience to a large extent.

The England think tank seems to have earmarked the likes of Chris Woakes, Liam Plunkett and Michael Wood to be part of the seam attack which is going to be led by Stuart Broad in all likelyhood. This calendar year will be critical for England to find their best 11 for the big event and more importantly, to keep their bowlers healthy. If they have a good 2018 in ODIs, they might very well head into 2019 as one of the favourites to lift the trophy.