England players face late scramble for final four spots in World Cup squad

England are seven months away from the start of their World Cup campaign and have never been in a better position to win the tournament or had so many players vying for places.

It is 43 years since the first Prudential World Cup and in that time England have been beaten finalists three times. They have not made an impression on the tournament since 1992, when they lost to Pakistan in the final, and were an embarrassment last time around in Australia.

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But now Eoin Morgan’s team are No 1 in the world and there is a scramble for the last remaining places in the 15-man squad with games running out fast for those who have not booked a place in the tournament.

England have 14 one-day internationals before the start of the World Cup on May 30, 2019, the next is in Kandy on Wednesday, weather permitting, and the emergence of Olly Stone in the second ODI in Dambulla on Saturday with a fast and hostile spell of new-ball bowling, has given Morgan another bowling option to ponder.

Never before has an England one-day captain had such competition for places or a such clarity over his best team and tactics.

Of the 15 squad places 11 are certain. Nine of those who played on Saturday are guaranteed selection. Two from outside the team – Liam Plunkett and Alex Hales – will be in the squad. It leaves four places. Three will probably go to seam bowlers with five players fighting for those spots.

Stone has now joined Mark Wood, Tom Curran, Sam Curran and David Willey as a contender. Three of those five will be picked leaving one more place, which likely be a choice between Liam Dawson as a spare spin bowling all-rounder or Sam Billings as an extra batsman. That is it. The selectors job is straightforward. They do not have to spend hours scouting and evaluating players in a desperate attempt to find a World Cup star from nowhere.

At the last tournament England changed their batting line up on the eve of the first game, promoting Gary Ballance to three in place of Ravi Bopara, who had been groomed for the position, a desperate sign of a team that had no idea about its best XI. those days are gone.

The top six is set and Hales must really regret his actions on the night of Ben Stokes’s arrest. Hales was suspended for the next two games for being out late that night which gave Jason Roy a route back into the team and he has not looked back forming England’s best ever ODI opening partnership with Jonny Bairstow. Hales is on the bench waiting for a broken finger to give him a chance.

Stone has only bowled six overs for England so talk of a World Cup place looks premature and pace alone is never but it is a long time since a young fast bowler made such an impression on debut hitting batsmen and making them duck and weave. He banged the ball in on a slow Asian pitch and clocked over 90mph with more to come.

Morgan is loyal and Plunkett, who got married on Saturday, will come back in. He has taken 65 wickets since the last World Cup and gives Morgan both control and penetration in the middle overs. After a 13 year stop start international career he deserves a World Cup hurrah. But Stone is pushing Wood now as the quick, shock bowler.

Willey is injured but had a good summer and is ahead of Sam Curran as the left-arm variation. Curran though has been a superstar in Test cricket already and like brother Tom, has an array of cutters, cross seamers and slower balls. Tom took five wickets under pressure to win an ODI in Perth earlier this year but has barely had a chance since. There is no doubting the Curran brothers’ temperament.

Stone, 25, was aggressive with his short ball but aggressive with his lengths too which meant he bowled at the stumps making batsmen play at good pace balls taking one for seven off his first four overs and was only hit in his second spell when Sri Lanka desperately hit out to chase the DL score. He says he knows when to crank up the pace and when to step back. Good news because the biggest challenge for a young bowler is to stay fit. Wood started with a bang for England but suffered a succession of injuries and has lengthened his run up on this tour to try and protect his dodgy heel.

“I’d love to play in the World Cup,” said Stone. “I’ve come into this tour not really knowing what to expect and the boys have been great. There is an opportunity to try to put your foot in the door and hopefully from these few games I can put in a good performance and show what I can do.”