England announce 15 member squad for World Cup title defence

England have confirmed their final 15-member squad for the 2023 Cricket World Cup starting next month with one change from the provisional squad announced last month.

England had made a few strong choices in their provisional squad announced last month with all-rounder Ben Stokes returning and young batter Harry Brook and star quick Jofra Archer missing out. 

But with back spasms seeing Jason Roy miss the four-match series against New Zealand, Brook has made a return to the ODI squad. The 24-year-old had an ordinary series against New Zealand, making scores of 25, 2 and 10, but his rapid progress as an international cricketer has seen him force the way into the squad.

Roy has two hundreds from six ODIs in 2023 and could be added to the squad that takes on Ireland later this week. The final date for squad changes for the World Cup is 28 September. 

Stokes, meanwhile, enhanced his reputation after reversing his ODI retirement with a stellar 182 off 124 balls against New Zealand, the highest score by an England men's player in ODIs.

Dawid Malan also cemented his place in the XI in the New Zealand series by topping the run charts, knocking off his fifth ODI hundred as well.

Adil Rashid, who played only one game in the New Zealand series, is also cleared to make the squad. Rashid experienced cramps in his only match and did not play the remainder of the series. Meanwhile, seamer Mark Wood is recovering from a sore heel at the end of the Ashes and is yet to play any competitive cricket since the final Ashes Test.

England Men’s National Selector, Luke Wright, said: “We have selected a squad we are confident can go to India and win the World Cup.

“We are blessed with an incredibly strong group of white-ball players which was underlined by the performances in the series win against a very good New Zealand team.

“The strength of the group has meant that we have had to make some tough decisions on world-class players with Jason Roy missing out and Harry Brook coming into the squad.”

England's squad for the World Cup: Jos Buttler (captain), Moeen Ali, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, David Willey, Mark Wood, Chris Woakes.

ICC Media Release