The discoverers of the sport Cricket, the English, after their succesful 2010 champion stint has been at the receiving end in the T20 WCs with losing out from a winnable situation in 2016 at the hands of the West Indies with the hero of the night Carlos Brathwaite smacking Ben Stokes for four sixes and taking the champonship home. Since then, the approach of the English under the leadership of Eoin Morgan has changed drastically and the English are one of the formidable sides coming into the tournament and would leave no stone unturned to keep their hands again on the coveted trophy.
ECB announced the English squad for the upcoming T20 world cup in Australia, on 2nd September 2022.
The one decision that caught many eyeballs was the exclusion of Jason Roy. The 32 year old has had a rough year. It started with the two-match "indefinite" suspension in March and translated into his game. He averaged a measly 18.73 from 11 T20Is this year, at an uncharacteristic strike rate of 104. He carried on this poor form into this summer's The Hundred, managing 51 runs from 6 games at a strike rate of 100.
With Roy out of the way, Hales' return to the squad seemed certain. After failing a doping test ahead of the 2019 World Cup, Hales was wholly discarded from the white-ball set-up, however with Roy being out of form, the "grandeur" retirement of Eoin Morgan and Hales piling on runs everywhere, Alex's return seemed inevitable. Thus, fans were left surprised when Hales wasn't named in the original 15 man squad with Phil Salt and Harry Brooks being picked over him. However as fate would have it, Johnny Bairstow suffered a freak injury while playing golf, and Hales was named as his replacement in the 7 match T20I tour to Pakistan and the World Cup.
Hales would love the familiar conditions down-under having had a stellar BBL 21-22, scoring 383 runs at an average of 31.91 and strike rate of 148.44.
England has maintained a relatively consistent approach to their squad. 10 members of the previous edition's squad retain their places with the absentees being Eoin Morgan, Jason Roy, Sam Billings, Tymal Mills and Johnny Bairstow(injury).
England have decided to invest in youth and have picked the talented though inexperienced duo of Phil Salt and Harry Brook. Both of them are well renowned in the domestic circuit for their quick runs and provide a dynamic option for England as back-ups. Reece Topley, who was a part of the reserves last year has made it into the squad this time instead of Tymal Mills and Mark Wood with his blistering speed has also found a place in the squad.
Strengths:
England's biggest strength is their explosive and versatile batting line-up. Considering all factors, England has the strongest batting line-up going into the tournament. Buttler and Hales provide stability at the top with enough firepower to destroy bowling line-ups in the power-play itself. Their middle order consists of seasoned pros Moeen and Stokes, and Malan and Livingstone have been at their best form this year. All of these players can move effortlessly up-and-down the middle order, which provides an elasticity to their batting order, allowing the management to set plans according to the situation. Moreover England's batting runs deep, right upto the tail-enders. Jordan, Woakes, Willey all can swing the bat. A strong lower order has always been an important feature of the English white ball side since the last 7 years.
Weakness:
England's biggest concern will be their toothless pace attack. None of the pacers in squad, have been a premier bowler for any T20 side in their career, and this insufficiency may cause problems in the bouncy and fast-tracked pitches of Australia. Death overs is one of the most important aspects of T20s and other teams can target England at this stage. England has an economy rate of 10.52 at the death overs since 2021, 2nd worst among all the teams in the upcoming world Cup (including the teams of the group stage).
Insights:
England's primary bowlers since 2021 have been their spinners. Liam Livingstone has outperformed most of the English bowlers! England would require the duo of Moeen and Rashid to overcome the conditional challenges of the Australian pitches. Chris Woakes was a revelation for England in the previous world Cup, and there would be high expectations from him this T20 WC. Like their batting, England also have ample depth in their bowling line-ups with middle order mainstays Stokes, Ali and Livingstone having the ability to provide 2-4 good overs from time-to-time. This provides an opportunity for captain Buttler to cover up for an otherwise dangerless bowling line-up.
Best Possible Playing Eleven:
Jos Buttler (C & WK) , Alex Hales, Dawid Malan, Ben Stokes, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley
