The England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB), on Tuesday, took a major step, days ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. They confirmed the 15-man squad for the upcoming marquee event, roping in Jofra Archer, James Vince and Liam Dawson in place of David Willey, Alex Hales and Joe Denly.


Barbados-born Archer qualified to play for England in March and is chosen following his performance against the recently concluded ODI series against Pakistan. That left one further pace-bowling place in the 15-man squad and Surrey's Curran has edged out left-armer Willey.

Earlier, Alex Hales was dropped after serving a suspension for reportedly failing a recreational drugs test. His place, as speculated, has gone to James Vince.

England have opted for another specialist spin option in the form of Liam Dawson rather than the all-round option of Denly.

Led by Eoin Morgan, the hosts will start the tournament as favourites. They begin their campaign in the opening match against South Africa at The Oval on 30 May.

England squad

Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Jos Buttler (wk), Tom Curran, Liam Dawson, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, James Vince, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.