New ball men Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad are fine fast-medium bowlers. Opener Ian Bell, and middle of the order pair captain Eion Morgan and Joe Root are solid international performers.
Moeen Ali's rapid century against Scotland showed his attacking skills but they are short on depth.
One of the best players for these conditions wasn't even picked for the cup. Hard-hitting allrounder Ben Stokes was overlooked for Ravi Bopara, who hasn't been sighted.
Tidy offspinner James Tredwell, seamer Chris Jordan and top order batsman Alex Hales, who would put some vim into the early overs, are also nowhere to be seen.
England face Sri Lanka, beaten finalists in the last two cups and another side who have yet to really hit their straps, in Wellington on Sunday. It is starting to take on real significance with the quarter-finals in mind.
England appear short on self belief. They need to be bold and back themselves.
They finish their group A programme against Bangladesh and Afghanistan, which might work in their favour if things are getting sticky. Then again, Bangladesh aren't mugs these days and the Afghans are thoroughly enjoying themselves and playing respectable cricket.
England need to get their captain firing. It's far easier for a skipper to lead when his own form is unimpeachable. That's not been the case with Morgan, since he struck a fine century in his first game in charge against Australia in their final tri-nations leadup to the cup. His class isn't in doubt but has been in a trough.
England are on the cusp of dipping out of the quarter-finals.
The bet would be they'll just make it, but a fourth final appearance?
Forget it, unless they pull a family of rabbits out of a nearby hat, and soon.
England
ODI ranking:
6
World Cup record:
• 1975: Semifinalists
• 1979: Beaten finalists
• 1983: Semifinalists
• 1987: Beaten finalists
• 1992: Beaten finalists
• 1996: Quarter-finalists
• 1999: First round
• 2003: First round
• 2007: Super eights
• 2011: Quarter-finalists
Captain: Eion Morgan.
Stars: Jimmy Anderson, Stuart Broad, Eion Morgan and Ian Bell.
Watch out for: Improvement after a wretched start with losses to Australia and New Zealand although they did thump Scotland. Surely they can only trend in one direction now.
Strengths: New ball men Anderson and Broad are a danger to the best batting lineups. Morgan is a class finisher if England's batsmen can get close enough to set him up.
Weaknesses: Poor batting techniques and mindsets, as shown up against Tim Southee in Wellington.
Nemesis: Finals. They've been in three but not struck gold yet. They should be among the front runners in world cricket. Instead, they're simply not much good at present.
TAB odds: $21.
Squad: Eion Morgan (c), Ian Bell, Moeen Ali, Alex Hales, Gary Ballance, James Taylor, Joe Root, Ravi Bopara, Jos Buttler, James Tredwell, Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes, Steven Finn, Jimmy Anderson, Chris Jordan.
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