Cricket World Cup 2023 Preview — Part 2: England
The cricketing world’s attention will hone in on the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup in India tomorrow. 4 years after England’s infamous win at Lord’s, the sport’s most prized competition returns and will be as competitive as ever. In this preview, I will lay down my predictions and look at each significant team’s chances. Part 2— England:
Squad: Jos Buttler (Captain), Moeen Ali, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, David Willey, Mark Wood, Chris Woakes.
England is looking to become the first team to go back-to-back and win an away World Cup since Australia 16 years ago. However, England last won an ODI series in India in 1985 so they have not had the best of times there in the format.
One of their biggest problems so far will be form and injuries. Arguably the 2 most significant names in English cricket right now, Joe Root and Ben Stokes, are not at their best coming into a World Cup. Stokes has sustained an injury that may put him out for the first game against New Zealand. Joe Root has hit a bad patch of form in ODI cricket. Considering he is arguably their best player of spin, England will need him to be firing on all cylinders if they have a chance of lifting that trophy again. Since the 2019 World Cup, he has only batted 16 times in the format, amassing 390 runs. Not the most desirable stats for your lead batter going into a World Cup. However, if there is one thing that we have learned about Joe Root over the past 4 years in red-ball cricket, is that he stands up when his team needs it the most.
Their bowling attack comes into the World Cup light on experience. Gus Atkinson has played 5 matches for England, all of them coming in September 2023. Topley returned from injury this summer and had an average series against New Zealand. Willey has an abundance of experience but only has 5 ODI wickets in 2023 and has a career ODI economy rate of 6.69 in India compared to his career economy of 5.57. Wood is another experienced bowler but he is extremely injury prone and has only played 8 ODIs since the last World Cup. However, England will hope his form from his excellent summer will carry over to India. Talking of excellent form over the summer, Chris Woakes and Sam Curran round out England’s pace attack. Woakes will have to take most of the load with the new ball, whilst Curran will primarily bowl at the death. Perhaps even more worrying than England’s inexperienced and injury-prone seam attack is their very light spin attack. England will be traveling to a subcontinent World Cup with just one specialist spinner — Adil Rashid. Moeen will be important but recently hasn't bowled as much in the IPL and the Hundred due to high economy rates. Livingstone will be their 3rd choice spinner with his mixed bag of variations but yet again, he is not a specialist spinner and may not be able to bowl at batters like Babar/Kohli/Williamson/etc. in the middle overs when they are under pressure.
My Starting XI
- Jonny Bairstow
- Dawid Malan
- Joe Root
- Ben Stokes
- Jos Buttler ( C ) ( WK )
- Moeen Ali
- Liam Livingstone
- Sam Curran
- Chris Woakes
- Adil Rashid
- Mark Wood
If Stokes was bowling, I would consider putting Brook into the team, but 6 bowlers, with one of them being Livingstone, is simply not enough to win big games. The biggest bonus of this team, is the ability to bat down to number 11, a feature that every white ball team yearns for as it gives you the ability to bat freely, especially in big run chases.
Predictions
Best Batter/Most Runs — Jos Buttler
Arguably the best white ball batter in the world right now, Jos Buttler, England’s skipper, and keeper, will be so important in the middle overs against the spinners, but also to stabilize the odd and inevitable England collapse.
Best Bowler/Most Wickets — Mark Wood
If Wood stays fit, he will most likely be the quickest bowler in the competition, and his raw pace alone is enough to take wickets. Add that to the form he’s gained over the summer and Wood is one of the scariest prospects for any batter in the world to face.
Dark Horse — Moeen Ali
Moeen Ali is a player who knows the conditions well due to his time spent with the Chennai Super Kings over the past few years. Dhoni has changed him as a bowler in the conditions and he may be a key bowler in the middle overs to hold things down and take wickets. With Stokes’ injury and Root’s bad form, he may also find himself up the order.
Underwhelming Player — Sam Curran
The 2022 T20I World Cup player of the tournament, Sam Curran, has made himself one of the most sought-after players in franchise cricket, particularly in the IPL, with the Punjab Kings paying £1.85 million for him. However, he struggled in the conditions and didn't live up to his price tag and I think a similar thing may happen in the upcoming World Cup.
Player of the Tournament — Jos Buttler
No surprises here, Buttler has excelled in the IPL over the past few seasons and for England. He is my favorite for the top run scorer of the whole tournament, alongside Babar.
Final Thoughts
If England are to defend their title, Stokes and Root are key, and they may regret the omission of Roy if either struggle for runs. However, England does have the firepower in their batting to make up for any missed runs, the main question will be how will their bowlers, specifically their spinners, hold up throughout the tournament and in big games. My overall prediction for this England side is that they will make the final of the World Cup, meeting India or Australia. However, they are not my favorites to win, that title still belongs to India…
