England Announce Squad for 2011 Cricket World Cup

Jan 19, 2011
Daniel Trelfer

England Announce World Cup Squad: Andrew Strauss - Image by Paul Henderson, flickr

England have revealed their 15-man squad for the upcoming Cricket World Cup. Matt Prior returns as wicket keeper and Stuart Broad is also included.

The 2011 Cricket World Cup, to be held in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh is, as usual, a lengthy affair. More a marathon than a tournament, beginning on 19th February and not ending until the final on 2nd April, the winning team will have to show as much endurance as ability to claim the prize.

England Announce World Cup Squad

England, the current World T20 champions, certainly would have fancied their chances of adding the 50-over trophy to their cupboard, but their 6-1 one day series hammering by Australia may have irrevocably damaged their confidence. They may point to several missing players, but their batting line-up was fit and frequently let them down. They were also very poor at the last World Cup, which was overshadowed by the tragic death of Pakistan's coach, Bob Woolmer. Australia were the eventual champions, their third title in a row.

Andrew Strauss's men are a better one-day side now but the squad named on 19th January already has question marks against it. The major surprise was that Steven Davies, England's wicket keeper at the start of the Australia ODI series, was dropped in favour of Matt Prior, who immediately got two ducks. Paul Collingwood made the final 15 despite his scratchy form with the bat.

Due to injuries during the tournament, England have replaced Kevin Pietersen with Eoin Morgan and Stuart Broad with Christ Tremlett.

England's Final 15-Man Cricket World Cup Squad

A quick rundown of the 15 men who will hope to bring more cricketing glory to England.

Andrew Strauss (c): Strauss has not always been seen as an automatic one-day choice, but he has worked hard at becoming a more expansive player and is now a decent 50-over opener, although he needs to go on and hit big scores in the manner of Graeme Smith for South Africa more regularly.
Matt Prior (wk): It's an about-turn by the selectors to go for Prior ahead of Davies, but his form with the bat and massively improved keeping means he probably deserved the nod. Whether he should be opening is another discussion. Team director Andy Flower said: "We believe that Matt Prior is best suited to sub-continent conditions."
Jonathan Trott: For someone often ponderous and always belligerent at Test level, it's almost strange that Trott is such an effective one-day player too. An automatic choice at this time and a man who can knit together an innings, leaving the next three batsmen to free their arms. One of the few one-day batsmen to impress in Australia.
Kevin Pietersen: Found occasional form in Australia, which could be ominous for the other teams at the World Cup. An explosive batsman and very handy fielder, any team would be delighted to have him in their line-up.
Ian Bell: Another man in excellent form. He could, and perhaps should, open the batting for England, but his stroke play and elegance at the crease will earn valuable runs in the middle order.
Ravi Bopara: In for Eoin Morgan, Bopara has big shoes to fill. Has occasionally looked very good for England, but there are questions about his temperament. Handy medium pace bowler, though.
Paul Collingwood: Retired from Test cricket and dropped from the opening ODI with Australia, it appears that Colly's international career is coming to an end. Yet he's still probably the best fielder in the world and it would be unthinkable to drop him completely from the squad at the moment. Needs to find form with the bat.
Michael Yardy: A real revelation in T20, Yardy's tight, effective bowling and ability with the bat make him a handy all-rounder, particularly on the sub-continent where his spin should nick him a few wickets.
Tim Bresnan: Brezzers was in fine form in Australia before picking up an injury that could yet rule him out of England's early games, which would be a real blow. He's becoming a genuine all-rounder and has a fantastic attitude for the game.
Graeme Swann: The best spinner in the world will be relishing the chance to winkle out a few on the spinner-friendly wickets of the sub-continent. A fine fielder and also a very decent batsman. Injured at the moment, which remains a concern for the England management.
James Anderson: England's leading bowler during The Ashes looked dangerous again when he returned to the one day side. Not great with the bat, but is in fine form and has a great ability to lead the England attack.
Stuart Broad: Broady will have been delighted at the Ashes series win, but devastated that he couldn't play a bigger part thanks to injury. England need his wicket-taking abilities and will to win. If fit he's likely to start all England's games.
Ajmal Shahzad: The quick bowler certainly looked very effective in Australia and has forced his way into the squad. Has a fight on his hands to make the starting XI at least at first, but looks a very tidy bowler to have in the squad.
Luke Wright: His all-round ability with the ball, the bat and in the field has probably seen Wright make the squad, not to mention his excellent attitude, but in truth his form in Australia has not been encouraging. Can be destructive with the bat though.
James Tredwell: The Kent spinner could well be called into action if the pitches are turning, but faces stiff competition from Michael Yardy to make the first XI with Graeme Swann.

So that's the England squad. They now have six more handy warm-up games with the Aussies before the World Cup begins.

Daniel Trelfer - I'm a freelance writer and also work in television on and off. I'm looking forward to exploring a range of my interests at Suite 101, ...