Cricket World Cup 2019: England to announce squad from position of immense and unfamiliar strength

Such has been the implacable calm of captain Eoin Morgan, the relentless unity of purpose from the backroom staff, and the unquenchable brilliance of his players, that even incidents with the potential to derail have failed to do so

It is from a position of immense and unfamiliar strength that England’s selectors will meet on Monday afternoon to finalise the 15-man squad for the forthcoming Cricket World Cup. Immense because of the formidable first XI and strength in depth that justify England’s status as tournament favourites, possibly alongside India and Australia. Unfamiliar because, as any follower of English cricket will tell you, it is virtually unheard of for an England team to feel this stable, this free of angst or neuroses, in the lead-up to a World Cup.

Such has been the implacable calm of captain Eoin Morgan, the relentless unity of purpose from the backroom staff behind him, and the unquenchable brilliance of the players under his command, that even incidents with the potential to derail have failed to do so. The sacking of Alex Hales, while initially botched, was eventually dispensed with in the most expeditious manner. The introduction of Jofra Archer, meanwhile, was laden with a hubbub and background noise that was rendered utterly irrelevant once he actually began to play.

Archer will certainly be one of the 15 names listed by selectors Ed Smith and James Taylor, captain Morgan and coach Trevor Bayliss when it is announced on Tuesday morning. Most of the others also pick themselves: Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow at the top of the order, James Vince as the spare opening batsman, Joe Root and Eoin Morgan in the middle order, Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler behind them, Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid as the spinners, Chris Woakes with the new ball. That’s 11. Of the remaining four, England will need a spare spinner and three more seamers, and this is where it gets tough.

It feels like a generation rather than just four years ago that England lined up for their opening World Cup game in Melbourne with a seam attack of James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Steven Finn and Woakes. Pace, variety and different angles are now the sacred commandments of white-ball fast bowling, and each of the four aspirants possesses at least one of those attributes in abundance. Wood offers pace, verve and nerve, and his sparing use during the recent ODI series against Pakistan suggests England are keen to keep him fresh. Wood will play.

Tom Curran was the most expensive of England’s bowlers during the Pakistan series, and yet with the second-most wickets after Woakes. Bayliss is an especially keen admirer of a player who whether in the field, with the bat or with the ball (his back-of-the-hand slower ball is the best England have) simply manages to make things happen. If England were a more conservative team, they’d probably opt for a more workmanlike option as their first seam reserve. But they’re not.

Which leaves Liam Plunkett and David Willey to fight it out for the last spot. The left-armer Willey crucially offers the change of angle, as well as the ability to bowl at the toughest parts of the innings: the opening Powerplay, and the death overs. But with Woakes and Archer now the default new-ball pairing, is Willey’s variety enough to save him? He doesn’t swing the white ball as much as he used to, and his ability to take Powerplay wickets may be slightly overrated (he has just five since the start of 2018). But his fielding is exceptional, and should June prove cooler than expected, he could be an invaluable weapon.

Plunkett, meanwhile, specialises in the crucial middle overs, when teams are increasingly looking to launch an attack. On the flat decks that are expected this summer, his ability to hit the pitch hard and force batsmen to play the ball at between rib and throat height is his greatest asset. His pace - which has been well down in the last couple of years, one of the main reasons Smith was contemplating leaving him out - appears to have been restored to somewhere near its peak. And Willey’s inclusion at Leeds on Sunday (a game for which Plunkett was rested) suggested that he was the one with most to do. A mixed return of 1-55 in nine overs probably wasn’t quite enough.

So Plunkett it is, with Liam Dawson just about edging out Joe Denly as the reserve spinner. In a way, though, this is very much the fetishisation of small differences: whatever combination England go with should be well capable of claiming the Cup. And going into a tournament where most of the selection decisions have already been made for them, it’s possible that this call, brutal in its finality, will be the toughest of the lot.

Possible squad: Roy, Bairstow, Root, Morgan (capt), Buttler (wkt), Stokes, Vince, Moeen, Rashid, Woakes, Archer, Wood, Curran, Plunkett, Dawson.