The openers have learned to fire from ball one - a far cry from a time in 2013 when England's top three in ODIs were Alastair Cook, Ian Bell, and Jonathan Trott - while the middle-order seems prepared to manage crises as well as tonk when needed. And what often sets England apart is the depth of their batting - there are times when they bat as deep down as number eleven - an aspect that helps accumulate crucial lower-order runs.

As for their bowling and all-rounders, they are both of almost all breeds: left and right-arm pacers (David Willey narrowly missed the cut in a refreshed squad for the World Cup), off-spinners, leg-spinners, and pace-bowling as well as spin-bowling all-rounders. Even backup wicketkeepers are in England's one-day set-up. Anything lacking? May be only a chinaman bowler. But that is scarcely missed with such a threatening line-up already. Almost all experts have already hailed them as favorites for the 2019 World Cup; and if a piece of trivia is to go by, no host nation had won a World Cup before India changed the trend in 2011 and Australia followed in 2015. Will a host do it for the third time running? Chances are high.

So is England's batting stronger or is it their bowling?

Well, one would bet more on their batsmen than their bowlers. Not because the latter lack in skills or execution, but because at times, they tend to concede way too many runs for their side's liking. While a combination of two new balls and pitches in England going flatter and losing their sheen has given the edge to batsmen, their bowlers have equally leaked runs, irrespective of whether them batting first or second. Thus, the inclusion of Jofra Archer might help bolster the pace stocks, with Mark Wood - who can also consistently hit 90 mph when fit - already having a history of injuries in his short career. Expectations are high from leg-spinner Adil Rashid too, having taken the most ODI wickets since the 2015 World Cup, where England had crashed out in the group stages.

Injury Worries

Mark Wood has been given the green signal from the England management for his first World Cup after scans on his left knee which bothered him during the warm-up game against Australia. Among other worries, their captain Eoin Morgan seemed to have recovered fully from a suspected little fracture in his finger when he led his side against Afghanistan in England's second warm-up game. Concerns about Adil Rashid and Chris Woakes - for a shoulder and knee, respectively - are also reported to be good-going and expected to start England's opening game against South Africa tomorrow.

Tournament Tag: Favourites

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 and Mark Wood