Glenn McGrath Names England as Favourites to Lift the World Cup in 2019

Former Australian pace bowler, Glenn McGrath, named England as favourites to lift the World Cup next year which is scheduled to be held at their den in England and Wales.

McGrath also claimed that Joe Root may not be prepared as of now to cope with the additional responsibility of captaincy.

Since their World Cup debacle in 2015, where they faced a humiliating exit after suffering defeat at the hands of Bangladesh, England transformed their conservative style of play and brought in players such as Jason Roy, Sam Billings, Alex Hales, David Willey, and many others.

Their new-style aggressive approach to the 50-over format has been admired ever since, and their records speak volumes for them. No team has scored more 300+ totals in ODIs since the last world cup in Australia.

Life came back to a full circle for the English side, as they defeated the World Champions by 4-1 at the same soil where they faced the humiliating exit three years back.

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“From what I have seen of England’s one-day cricket recently, you would have to make them favourites for next year’s World Cup. They have won 19 of their last 22 one-day internationals, and if they can continue the way they are going, maintaining that win ratio, keeping the energy with which they play and the same personnel together, they are going to be hard to beat, especially on home soil,” wrote Glenn McGrath in his piece for Daily Mail.

The ‘Pidgeon’ also believed the additional responsibility of captaincy on Joe Root is hampering his performances. According to McGrath, Root is best suited under the captaincy of Morgan.

However, he had to undertake the responsibility of captaincy in whites after Cook stepped down from captaincy post the Indian tour.

“He’s one of the best batsmen in the world, but whether he needs the additional responsibility I am not sure.I am not close enough to it and don’t know Joe well enough, but it feels like there was no one else for the Test captaincy, so he simply had to take that on board,” added McGrath on the subject of Joe Root.

The New South Welshman also believed the Australians could take a leaf out the English book regarding their style of play and termed the Aussie brand of cricket as predictable.

“While England needs to change the way they play in the traditional form of the game, though, their template in white-ball cricket is worth copying. The Australians play a solid brand of one-day cricket, but it’s too similar to how we have always played it. Nowadays it has to be somewhere between the old ODI style and T20,” further mentioned Glenn McGrath.

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