Which Players Have Impressed In England's World Cup Warm-Ups?
"Jason Roy" by Joeyjackets (CC BY-SA 4.0)
England wrapped up a comprehensive 4-0 One Day International series win over Pakistan with a 54-run victory in the fifth and final game at Headingley.
These matches have proved the perfect preparation for the Cricket World Cup hosts who are 2/1 favourites with Betfair to win the tournament outright. Which players have caught the eye in these warm-up matches?
Although the World Cup is a squad game with England facing nine group matches in the relatively short space of five weeks, who looks to have cemented their places in Trevor Bayliss' plans? Here, we take a look at one batsman and a bowler who have done particularly well in recent One Day action.
Jason Roy
Alex Hales' absence from the England setup for the tournament for reasons reported here; https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cricket/2019/04/29/alex-hales-dropped-england-world-cup-squad-doping-ban/
could have been been a real headache for the hosts, but fellow opener Jason Roy has really shone with consistent and sizeable scores against Pakistan.
In three ODI innings during the series, he produced knocks of 87, 76 and 114 - an average of 92.33 and a strike rate just under 114.5. That is fine form from Surrey batsman Roy, who has been known to get out cheaply every now and then on international duty.
Not so in recent matches, however. Since being tipped on https://betting.betfair.com/cricket/cricket-world-cup/ to be the World Cup's top runscorer, Roy has received market support and is now 10/1 third-favourite in that market.
He is just one man at the head of a very deep batting line-up which England are blessed with. Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Eoin Morgan and Joe Root have all put big scores on at the crease during the Pakistan series too, so Bayliss has plenty of strength in depth and that, coupled with home advantage, is why the hosts are so strongly fancied to do well at this World Cup.
Chris Woakes
"Chris Woakes" (CC BY-SA 2.0) by NAPARAZZI
Away from the batsmen, Chris Woakes has done more and more damage with the ball as the series progressed. The medium-fast bowler took ten victims in four One Day games, although the first match was rained off at The Oval. He took 4-67 in Bristol and, despite sitting out at Trent Bridge, followed up when recalled.
Woakes' five-wicket haul at Headingley was a timely reminder of his ability with speculation mounting that Sussex paceman and Barbados-born Jofra Archer could yet snatch a World Cup squad space according to https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/apr/17/jofra-archer-left-out-england-world-cup-squad-cricket. On the evidence of this series, it certainly shouldn't be the Warwickshire all-rounder who makes way for him.
With Woakes now a 20/1 chance to take the most wickets at the World Cup, his nine victims in the last two appearances for England mean he has surely done enough to keep his place. Others can feel less confident given their performances in attack.
Tom Curran helped guarantee a series win at Trent Bridge with figures of 4-75, but the Surrey man couldn't take another victim at Headingley. Durham all-rounder Ben Stokes, meanwhile, has been below par with his bowling, but is of course highly capable with the bat as demonstrated with an unbeaten 71 off just 64 balls in the fourth ODI.
