‘Archer call final piece of jigsaw’

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Trevor Bayliss says England want to look at ‘one or two’ fringe players during Windies ODI series

Trevor Bayliss says England want to look at ‘one or two’ fringe players during Windies ODI series

Head coach Trevor Bayliss says England are keen to have a look at their fringe players in the final two one-day internationals against Windies before finalising their World Cup squad.

England will name their 15-man squad in April with Bayliss admitting a decision on Jofra Archer will be made nearer the time and that that will be the “final piece of the jigsaw”.

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The series in the Caribbean is currently level at 1-1 after the third ODI was washed out and picking the XI for each game has been tricky, according to Bayliss, as England strive to build the strongest squad possible.

“It’s been a bit of a juggling act,” he told Sky Sports. “We want to have a look at one or two of the fringe guys as well. More than anything, just to give them a bit of a run out.

“I think the team that wins the World Cup will play a squad of players and whoever has got the strongest squad will go close to winning it.

“So we want to make sure some of our fringe players have played matches as well.”

England have had a very settled group of players in one-day cricket since Bayliss took over in 2015 and the Australian says the make-up of the World Cup squad is very close to being decided.

A decision on Jofra Archer will be ‘final piece of the jigsaw’, says Trevor Bayliss

“I’d say, very close. We’ve pretty much had the same 15, 16 or 17 players over the last three or four years,” he added.

“We could probably name a 15, there’s a Jofra Archer decision to be made at a later date. I think it’s getting down to that being the final piece of the jigsaw.”

Bayliss also confirmed that Ben Stokes is likely to be fit to play in the fourth ODI, in Grenada, after being left out of the XI for Monday’s match as a precaution.