With 99 days to go until the World Cup, England’s batsmen and spinners are locked in. Alex Hales looks set to be the reserve batsman with Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan, Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes forming the top six and Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid as the two spinners.

However, the make-up of the pace attack remains uncertain. With three spots in the starting XI and potentially two back-up spots in the squad up for grabs. The last spot in the 15-man squad is likely to be occupied by a reserve batsman with Joe Denly currently the man in possession but James Vince and Sam Billings also options.

The 23-year-old has only played 14 List A matches in his short career but with a strike rate of 34.8 and an economy rate of 5.29 he has performed well. More significant have been his returns in the IPL and BBL, where he has appeared at home playing alongside the world’s best white-ball players. Archer is a proven wicket-taker with the 20th best strike rate in T20 history of 16.7 and a True Economy Rate in the IPL and BBL of -1.09 runs per over in the death overs.

Archer’s brilliance extends beyond the scorecard. With an average speed (excluding slower balls) of 142.19 kph since his T20 debut, Archer is the fifth fastest bowler in the world. Archer has rare raw attributes and is a special talent. He combines the pace of Wood with the variations of Curran and elevates them further.

Of course, England must be wary of placing too much expectation on Archer who remains young and inexperienced, but given England’s struggle to balance their attack it would arguably be more risky for England to ignore him.

Conclusions

Two of England’s five pace bowling spots will certainly go to Woakes and Plunkett, and both men are almost certain to start. That leaves three places in the squad and one in the team, which means one of Willey, Wood, Curran and Archer won’t make the squad and two of them won’t make the team.

Willey – so dangerous when the ball swings, a left-arm option and underrated at the death – is unlikely to miss out on a squad place. Wood’s pace offers great potential and his excellent record at the death is encouraging but he must translate skills into performance. Curran’s abilities, particularly at the death, are exciting but he may struggle to get further opportunities to prove his worth. All the signs are that Archer has the quality to perform at international level but whether he can establish himself in a short window of time and deal with the burden of expectation remains to be seen.

With the batting and spin bowling settled, these next few months will be crucial in determining England’s best ODI bowling attack and, ultimately, their chances of winning a World Cup on home soil.