After an embarrassing first-round exit at the 2015 World Cup, England completely overhauled their ODI outfit. Since then, the English side has dominated the 50-over format and will enter into the 2019 World Cup as a numero team in ICC ODI rankings.
The favourite tag also brings the pressure with it and thus England batsman Joe Root believes England can learn a lot from their arch-rivals Australia, especially on how to deal with tough situations at the mega event.
"Australia have always had strong squads. They've gone into every World Cup right up there in terms of the rankings and depth within their squad for a number of those World Cups and they've won pressure moments. So there's plenty to learn from them as a side," Root told Sky Sports.
After the 2015 World Cup, England has twice set a new record for the highest total in an ODI innings – 444/3 against Pakistan in 2016 and 481/6 against Australia in 2018. They have also won 58 out of their 88 matches.
Commenting on England’s performance, Root said: "I'd like to think that the way that we've improved over this four-year cycle, we are probably ahead of where we thought we would be at this stage. We've worked really hard to deserve the tag of the No.1-ranked team going into the tournament; I think we should enjoy that. We should get a lot of confidence from that and really embrace that and enjoy what we've been doing and take it forward into the games.
“The best thing about it is that we are confident, but we are realistic that nothing is ever given to you in this game, and that you are going to have to continue to work very hard. To win a tournament, you have to be consistent as well."
Meanwhile, Australia have found their mojo back in white-ball cricket and have won their last eight ODIs. And Root is excited to face them in the World Cup and the subsequent Ashes series.
"We've got two of the best players (Warner and Smith) back playing for Australia now. It's bubbling up very nicely to be a very exciting series, and I'm sure that World Cup game won't disappoint either. We want to beat Australia's strongest side and those two are definitely in that. It's a very exciting period for us, and we've got such a great opportunity to do something very special," he asserted.
England will start their World Cup campaign in the tournament opener against South Africa on May 30 at The Oval. In the meantime, Eoin Morgan and company will play two warm-up matches – against Australia on Saturday (May 25) and versus Afghanistan on Monday (May 27).
