And yet the England batting and bowling will both improve with the return of Stokes and Woakes.
Wood is ordinary and a lucky benefactor that the above were not playing. Plunkett is only picked on his bowling ability.
Ali and Rashid may be ordinary as spinners, but they're the best options England has at present and Ali's batting is defintely a feather in his cap.
England isn't going to change its formula after losing to Scotland in one game with players out after beating Aus and NZ away in ODI's with it. this past summer.
Willey is a problem for them though. They with 6 bowlers only bowl him uptop for swing and don't bowl him out when the ball stops swinging. Yet he is not replicating his domestic runs at intl level. At all.
He's not batting well, he's not back end bowling well, he is basically a swing bowling luxury that the current team is unable to afford to successfully carry.