With England having named their squad for the New Zealand 50 Over series and likely the World Cup, talk already turns to a few big selection dilemmas. From the top order to the pace attack, let’s look at what decisions Jos Buttler and Matthew Mott have to make.
Top Order Titans
In terms of England’s top five, the team seems rather set. With the squad in its current state the team looks set to start with Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, and Jos Buttler. Prior to the announcement, I was largely expecting England’s top six to be decided. This has been thrown by the omission of Harry Brook.
As a result, I see Stokes and Buttler being bumped one up the order. For me, this remains a highly impressive and high-potential top order. Since the white ball reset of 2015, these five men have proven their ability to score big runs, and do it in aggressive fashion. This remains a strength of the current England side.
A name that has attracted some attention, is that of Dawid Malan. Having featured in plenty of ODI squads in the last year owing to various injuries and retirements (some more permanent than others), many have argued he should be in the starting team. For me, there is simply not the space.
The main argument is that Malan should open at the expense of Jason Roy, that Roy has been short of runs for some time. In Roy’s defence, he has scored two centuries in 2023. On top of that, he highlighted his ability to score runs in India with a very solid IPL campaign (298 runs striking at 152). I do admit that Jason Roy is a player I have a soft spot for, but I also think there is a very strong argument for him keeping his spot on merit.
The other argument is that Malan should play at 3 or 4, but this is simply a gap I do not think exists. The former would require moving Joe Root from 3 to 4, an absolutely ludicrous request. Joe Root averages 54 at 3 (87 innings) which drops to 41 when at 3 (55 innings), he shall not be moved. The latter feels unlikely given Malan has played most heavily as an opener or three. The reality of having so much talent is that sometimes very good players do not quite make the team.
Middle Order Mayhem
Where things get messy is the middle order. With England’s specialist bats ending at five, the spots of 6 and 7 have become the most interesting in all selection debates. In 2019, England had the ultimate comfort blanket of Jos Buttler batting at six, capable of steadying the ship and sending it back out to sea.
With his likely promotion to five, no bad thing getting him to face more balls, there is now the question of what England do in the middle order. The reality is that six marks the arrival of the all-rounders.
Three names are likely to go into two positions, these being Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone, and Sam Curran. This is where I start to feel some uneasiness about the strength of the batting. Six is probably a shoot-out between Moeen and Livingstone.
In recent series in South Africa and Bangladesh, Moeen took the position. I say this as a massive Mo fan, but it feels one position too high for him. Seven is the perfect position for Mo where I feel he still has the time to offer assistance with the bat without the team regularly relying on him to score significant runs.
The alternative is to use Livingstone at six. In theory, Livingstone has the batting ability to play the finisher role at six to a high level. As a ball striker he is in the top tier of world cricket, and could offer some explosiveness to the team.
The main concern here is questionable form and fitness. In terms of availability, Livingstone has spent the last couple of years managing various injuries and knocks. In terms of form, there is a real sense he has yet to quite kick on from his mega 2021. We are in an interesting point to see if he makes the jump from a player with great promise to the finished product.
If we assume that England keep to their recent form and pick Mo at six, that leaves seven up in the air. Now, given discussion over six we could assume that Livingstone moves to seven, but that would forget the presence of Sam Curran. A player often left out of potential line ups, Sam Curran to me is highly likely to play at the World Cup.
This is for reasons both skill-based and something more intangible. In terms of skill, Curran has spent plenty of time working on his batting over the last two years. For both Surrey and the Oval Invincibles he has regularly been promoted up T20 batting orders, but for both has shown his ability to score boundaries once fielding restrictions are relaxed. Given a number 7 is likely to bat with four or five fielders out, this striking ability is vital. Sam Curran has the talent to make a difference with the bat at 7.
Somewhat more mystical but important too, is the role he played in the T20 World Cup last year. Player of the Tournament, Curran did his talking with the ball. Capable of drying up the run rate in crucial stages of the match and of taking big wickets, the role at number 7 would allow England to utilise his bowling too.
With Stokes a specialist bat, England have to find a few spare overs in their starting XI. Mo at 6 and Curran at 7 certainly extends the bowling of the team. Sport loves the concept of ‘players for the big occasion’, and this is a mantra that Curran has already picked up. For a team that often looks for players with a heightened ability to perform under pressure, Curran looks a likely pick.
Picking Up The Pace
This leaves us with the bowling attack to consider. The most important factor in this will be fitness. If you look at the bowlers that England have selected, and the man already named as a likely reserve, you probably do not want to look at their injury records.
All of Chris Woakes, Reece Topley, Mark Wood, Gus Atkinson, and Jofra Archer have recently struggled with knocks of varying degrees. The reality is in that first game against New Zealand much of the selection will depend on who is actually fit. For me the ideal attack would be Woakes, Rashid, Archer/Topley, and Wood, but the likelihood of all these players lasting a full tournament feels highly optimistic.
The interesting question right now is about which player will drop out of the squad if Jofra Archer does make it back in time for India. The two likelihoods seem to be Reece Topley or David Willey.
When I saw the team I instinctively saw Willey as the player to make way, but due to all these fitness woes there is a solid chance he holds his place. In David Willey you have a new ball bowler who seems much more likely to last a full tournament if needed. As talented as Reece Topley is and as much as I would, I can see England looking to take the safer bet on this occasion.
If it holds together, I think England’s pace attack is as strong as they come. It just might come down to some careful fitness management.
