Jos Buttler has World Cup selection concerns after Dawid Malan’s return to form

Buttler’s men completed a 3-1 series win over New Zealand with an emphatic 100-run win in the fourth ODI at Lord’s on Friday, their last match with a first-choice team before heading to the sub continent.

England named a 15-man provisional squad for the World Cup last month, but the controversial omission of Harry Brook has since raged over their final line-up – which is not due to be confirmed until September 28.

Malan was considered one of the players most at risk in the event of a late change to bring in Brook, but silenced any questions about his place with empathy with a player in the series display against the Black Caps, resulting in a fifth ODI. century in the final.

Asked if Malan was now impossible to drop, Buttler said: “Yes.

“Every time he’s had his opportunity, not just in this series but before, he’s been incredibly consistent, so absolutely, he’s played incredibly well, I thought it was a brilliant hundred.”

Instead, it’s fly-half Jason Roy who appears under pressure after missing all four matches of the New Zealand series with back spasms and, although he is included in the squad, he has probably lost his starting place against Malan.

Even before his injury, Roy’s form was a question and he could now be drafted into a second-row team that faces Ireland in a three-match series starting next week in a bid to prove he is ready.

“The biggest frustration is for him,” Buttler said. “He wants to be fit, play and influence cricket matches for England.

“He has worked very hard to be fit and available, but we now have a few days to regroup – the coach, the captain, the selectors or whatever – and work out exactly what we need to do moving forward.

“Obviously we’ve had some injury issues around a few players as well, so we can just gather a bit of information on that and then finalize the squad.

“It’s always been an option to potentially add guys to the Irish squad if needed so we can get a clearer picture of everyone now that this series is over as to who needs what to go from forward.”

Fast bowler Mark Wood was also absent throughout the New Zealand series as he recovers from the bruised heel he suffered at the back in the Ashes, while spinner Adil Rashid has not featured since that he had a calf problem in the first ODI.

England are being cautious with both players ahead of their World Cup opener against New Zealand on October 5, but Buttler admitted his frustration at not being able to field a full squad at any point in the build-up.

“You don’t want to risk anything, but at the same time you want the guys to play cricket,” he explained. “It’s our job to play cricket and we all want to play. Injuries are a really frustrating part of the game.

“(With) Adil, it’s fantastic when he’s available and playing and building his confidence, especially when we’ve gone six months without playing in this format.

“In an ideal world we would have had a fully fit squad to select from and offer matches to, but we haven’t been in that position, which is probably why we just need to take a day to determine exactly what we what we need to do before flying to India.

In addition to the 15-player main squad, teams can name three traveling reserves who will be drafted later in the seven-week tournament in the event of an injury.

National coach Luke Wright said last month that England were hoping to make Jofra Archer one of their own and excitement around the seamer’s potential involvement intensified this week after he trained with the team for the first time since suffering a stress fracture in his elbow in the IPL. in May. Buttler, however, urged caution over a player who has been plagued by injuries over the past two years.

“We’ll see,” he said. “There is a huge duty of care owed to him. He’s been out of the game for a while. He’s had his elbow and his back (injuries) and he’s still a young man who’s got a lot of cricket ahead of him.

“So there is a huge duty of care to ensure he is fully fit for the remainder of his career. It’s obviously exciting to see him in an England tracksuit and bowling and, even when he looks like he’s going through the motions, he creates a lot of speed. He’s a superstar and we’ll learn more as time goes on about how he’s still traveling.