England primed for back-to-back World Cup titles in India

Squad: Jos Buttler (c), 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.

All the squads for ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023

Winners (2019)

The expectations were high for England heading into the tournament and Eoin Morgan's charges certainly delivered on the biggest stage of all as they claimed a first ICC Men's Cricket World Cup title in sensational style.

The final was a match for the ages, with England and New Zealand finishing tied at the end of the 50 overs and then again at the completion of the Super Over with the eventual winner only decided via a countback of total boundaries.

(Most recent first): N/R W W W W L L W W W

vs New Zealand (5 October), Ahmedabad

vs Bangladesh (10 October), Dharamsala

vs Afghanistan (15 October), Delhi

vs South Africa (21 October), Mumbai

vs Sri Lanka (26 October), Bengaluru

vs India (29 October), Lucknow

vs Bangladesh (31 October), Kolkata

vs Australia (4 November), Ahmedabad

vs Netherlands (8 November), Pune

vs Pakistan (11 November), Kolkata

vs New Zealand (5 October), Ahmedabad

New Zealand are sure to want some revenge for what happened in the epic World Cup final in 2019 and England will need to be ready for this when the two rivals meet in tournament opener in Ahmedabad.

Ben Stokes was the match-winner on that historic occasion with an unbeaten 84 and then again during the Super Over, and the star all-rounder will again be pivotal to the outcome of this clash.

Both teams will be targeting a semi-final berth at this year's event and a fast start will play a major role in helping England and New Zealand achieve this.

Ben Stokes

England's Test captain has been in career-best form over the past 12 months, with his efforts at last year's ICC Men's T20 World Cup perhaps bettered by his performance during the recent Ashes series on home soil.

Stokes will be keen to put his 'on again, off again' ODI retirement behind him quickly and again lead England another World Cup title, and there's no reason to suggest he can't do exactly this.

The all-rounder is sure to like the look of the small boundaries that will be in use during the World Cup and it will come as little surprise if we see him back-up his 2019 exploits at this year's event.

Stokes hit five half-centuries when amassing 465 for his country at the last World Cup and the 32-year-old will be looking to produce similar numbers this time around.

While England's form in 50-over cricket has been somewhat inconsistent since their famous first title in 2019, they will be buoyed by their efforts to win last year's ICC Men's T20 World Cup in Australia and their recent form since arriving in India.

England have looked in decent touch during the warm-up matches, with the likes of Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler and Moeen Ali among the runs and Reece Topley and Adil Rashid among the wicket-takers.

There's no doubt that England have the ability to win back-to-back titles this year and if they can adjust to the conditions in India quickly then we should see them reach the semi-finals at the very least.