Best chance for Morgan’s army

Ironically, England will open its campaign against Bangladesh which ousted it in the group stage of the World Cup in 2015 in Australia. The hosts will be desperate for smooth sailing from ball one, having claimed it deserved the favourite tag. Under Eoin Morgan, England has cut a swathe through ODI teams since the World Cup embarrassment, employing an attacking brand of cricket through young players who hold no fear. However, despite their 50over resurgence, England failed to record series victories over Australia, India and South Africa in that time, perhaps its three biggest threats in this tournament. The captain is in good form at the moment having scored a hundred in the first ODI against South Africa.

There is no hotter player in the world than Ben Stokes. After hitting the jackpot at the 2017 IPL auction, Stokes backed up his hefty pay packet with a stunning tournament where he was named the Most Valuable Player for runners-up Pune. He looms over this tournament like the Supergiant he is, to the point where Mike Hussey equated him with Lance Klusener, the South Africal all-rounder of the late 1990s. If he comes off three times for England the hosts probably win the Champions Trophy.But with expectation comes pressure, and Stokes won’t be the only one under the microscope. 

England is in form having won five of its past six ODI series. It has the hottest player in the world. The question is whether England will be able to cope with the favourite tag and the pressure that goes along with it. 

“They’ve got a really good team. Obviously, they’ll know the conditions really well playing at home and they’ll have plenty of hometown support,” says Mike Hussey. “They’ve got some dangerous players all the way down their list. There’s the class of Joe Root, but guys like Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Chris Woakes, Jason Roy, Sam Billings – they’ve got some young, exciting talented cricketers that if they hit their form and they’ve got their confidence up they will be very hard to beat. They will be well led by Eoin Morgan and Trevor Bayliss, who will bring a calmness to the team which is really important in one-day cricket.”

SQUAD: Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood

June 1 v Bangladesh, The Oval; 

June 6 v New Zealand, Cardiff; 

June 10 v Australia, Edgbaston

BEST RESULT: RUNNERS-UP (2004, 2013)