ICC World Cup 2019 | Eoin Morgan reveals he doesnât know Englandâs final squad yet
England skipper Eoin Morgan has surprisingly stated that the selectors are yet to decide the host nationâs final 15-man squad and he himself didnât know it. Meanwhile, Chris Woakes has stated that the players are still nervous with their selection after the thumping win over Pakistan.
It has been four years since a dismal showing in the World Cup for England where they could only win two out of their six games, suffering heavy defeats at the hands of Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand and Bangladesh. However, given the form this time, the no.1 ranked ODI side would definitely be entering the tournament as one of the heavy favourites.
Having last lost just one ODI series since January 2017 against India, England are on a winning spree with their most recent victim being Pakistan, who succumbed to a 4-0 series victory in England. As many as 16 players were given a chance to play in the series of which only Jofra Archer and James Vince were not included in the previously announced preliminary squad for the mega event.
While Archer lacked experience, his effortless pace and beautiful wrist movements did manage to impress one and all. His compatriot Vince, on the other hand, has managed to only put up an average performance scoring 94 runs in three matches. Now, with one of the 16 set to miss out on the World Cup, skipper Eoin Morgan has revealed that he still doesn't know who is going to be that unfortunate one. However, he lauded his team's performance asking everyone to be ready to get a chance to play.
"I don't know the 15, every one of these guys should be proud of what we've achieved so far. The continuous improvement of performances makes the selection meeting extremely difficult.
But every single member of the 17-man squad here will play some role, due to the nature of injuries and illness and call-ups," said Morgan, reported Sky Sports.
The whitewash, more than anything, has sent a signal to all the competitors ahead of the extravaganza and an impressed Morgan heaped praise on his players demanding constant improvement from them hereafter.
"The series went as well as we could have hoped. Pakistan are a strong side and they played some competitive cricket. We've chopped and changed our side a lot but the performance has never been compromised. That emphasises how competitive positions are as well as everyone's hunger and determination to constantly improve their games," Morgan concluded.
Meanwhile, the man of the moment Chris Woakes who has quite surely assured a spot after taking nine wickets in the series, admitted that he still felt butterflies in his stomach until he heard an official confirmation.
"Everyone will be wary of that phone call," he quoted. "Even if you feel like you've got a good chance to being in the squad, until you hear it from selectors' mouths, it's not quite set in stone. You're still probably a little bit on edge, particularly with these 16 and 17 players, because everyone has performed at some point. It's a tricky decision for the selectors. Everyone will be looking at their phones tomorrow I suppose, if that's when we find out."
The final 15 man squad would be announced on Tuesday morning, the last day for submitting the squad to ICC, around 9:30 am BST by captain Morgan, head coach Trevor Bayliss and selector Ed Smith.
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