England announced their final squad for the ICC Cricket World Cup on September 17. They made one change from their preliminary squad: Harry Brook replaced Jason Roy. Jofra Archer, hero of the 2019 final, missed out on a berth but has been confirmed as a travelling reserve for the World Cup.

At a press conference on September 18, England selector Luke Wright explained why Archer will be the only one reserve player travelling with the England side. Yet to fully recover from his recurrent elbow injury, Archer is undergoing his rehabilitation process.

Wright said that there is neither an official requirement for naming three travelling reserves, nor is there any obligation to choose a replacement player from the set of reserve players that have been named.

“Well, you don’t actually have to officially name any reserves at all. So that’s not the case. Obviously, from us as a selection panel, it’ll be more letting the guys know to keep hitting balls if it’s for batters or bowlers just to keep yourself ticking over, really.

“You don’t actually officially have to only name, you know, three, and that’s the only three you can pick from. So for us, really, it’s just working out all those guys that we speak to, to keep themselves ticking over,” said Wright.

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The World Cup will be nearly seven weeks long if one takes the warm-up games into account. Each team is scheduled to play two warm-up games and nine league matches. If they qualify for the knockout, they will play one or two more games.

England’s World Cup schedule involves two warm-up games at Guwahati, and nine league games scattered across eight different cities in India. Wright explained that it would be a tough tour for anyone not directly involved in the main squad, which is why they have not named any travelling reserve other than Archer.

On the other hand, Wright mentioned that Archer will benefit from being around the team and the physios as it would provide him with the best environment to continue his rehab process and get ready in time for the latter stages of the World Cup, in case a space opens up in the main squad.

“As I said, look, for taking people with you, it’s a tough trip to take people with you when you’re not actually involved in that World Cup squad. That, we have to be aware of.

“It’s very different for Jofra. As we said, going back to his rehab, it’ll be great for him to be out there with us and getting the best training possible. So, that’s where we are at with those guys,” said Wright.

Travelling reserves were introduced in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, when strict quarantine protocols used to prevail around the world. However, as Wright mentioned, the 2023 World Cup mandates neither naming of a set of travelling reserves nor having to choose a replacement player from the reserves (if any).