England's bid to become the team to beat in 2019 WC begins

Sir Clive Woodward wanted his England team to make a statement in the 12 months leading up to the 2003 rugby union World Cup. He knew that to win the tournament, England would have to arrive there having proved to the rest of the world and to themselves that they were the team to beat, and so he set about organising a brutally tough programme of fixtures designed to test the mettle of his squad. If they could pass that test, England would be in good shape for the World Cup.

First, they played and beat the big three southern hemisphere giants, New Zealand, South Africa and Australia, on consecutive weekends during the 2002 Autumn internationals. Early the following year, they won the Six Nations Grand Slam - winning all five matches - and then followed it a few months later by beating Australia and the All Blacks in their own backyards, for the first time in 40 and 30 years respectively.

As statements go, it was about as emphatic as they come.

With a year to go until the 2019 cricket World Cup, England's ODI team is in a similar position now to the one their rugby counterparts were in in 2002-03. Eoin Morgan's men are in good form, they have reached the top of the world rankings for the first time since 2013 and they are developing greater consistency and depth. They are building nicely but the next 12 months will decide whether England arrive at the World Cup with a realistic chance of winning it.

Their recent record in ODI cricket makes impressive reading: they have won nine of their last ten bilateral series and 31 of their 41 completed matches during the same period. Since last season's Champions Trophy, England have lost just three of their 14 completed games - only India has a better win percentage - and scored their runs quicker than any other team in the world. They are clearly good value for the world number one status they gained in May.

It is also why they are currently favourites for next year's World Cup. Former South African fast-bowler Allan Donald, now coaching at Kent, said last week at an event - to mark a year until the tournament begins - that he thought the hosts would be the team to beat. There will be other contenders of course with India, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand all expected to challenge too but home conditions should be a clear advantage for England.

That was also the case during last summer's Champions Trophy, of course. Then, England slumped to an unexpected defeat in the semifinal against eventual winners Pakistan in Cardiff. After cruising through the group stages, England had an off-day and the Pakistanis were fabulous. The harshness of tournament cricket was clear for all to see. Teams can't afford to have bad days and England had one at just the wrong moment.

It could have knocked Morgan's team back but since then, England have kicked on with series victories in Australia and New Zealand over the winter. The squad is arguably stronger and deeper now than it was during the Champions Trophy with Jonny Bairstow and Tom Curran forcing their way in while a core of world class one-day players including Joe Root, Jos Buttler, Adil Rashid and Ben Stokes is complemented with more, like Chris Woakes, Moeen Ali and Jason Roy, heading that way.

There are still areas to work on, though. England have won 14 of 21 completed matches batting first in the last two years while they have won 17 of 20 matches, with one tie, batting second. They batted first in the semifinal defeat to Pakistan but were bowled out for an under par 212 after failing to adjust to a tricky pitch and it is an area they can still do better in. In the six matches during the winter when England batted first, they won three and lost three.

There are also certain personnel questions to be resolved. David Willey, England's left-arm bowling option, has yet to fully convince in his role as a new-ball wicket-taker - nine of his last 15 matches have ended up wicketless - although conditions in England during the World Cup may provide the swing he needs than those of late have. Aside from that, the bowling stocks look strong if they can keep everyone fit.

On the batting front, England need to decide whether Roy or Alex Hales will open with Bairstow, who has scored four hundreds in 15 matches since the Champions Trophy, or whether all three of them will play in the top three. The identity of England's back-up middle-order batting option needs to be finalised too with Kent captain Sam Billings, who will take the gloves for the ODI against Scotland on Sunday, and Dawid Malan, despite not having played an ODI yet, the prime candidates.

But from a cricketing perspective, there aren't many holes in this team. It has variety in the bowling attack, a truckload of all-rounders, aggression and power in the batting and athleticism in the field. The unknown factor is whether England will be able to deliver under pressure when the stakes are at their highest next year. Too often, they have failed to do that in World Cups which is why they have still never won a global 50-over tournament.

England still have 24 ODIs between now and the start of the World Cup to prepare, beginning with the match in Scotland on Sunday and then five and three-rubber series against Australia and India respectively. Given Australia are heavily depleted, the visit of India, the number two ranked ODI team, looms as the pivotal series of the summer. England lost 2-1 the last time the sides met, in India in early 2017, but Morgan's men are a more developed side now. It will be a fascinating match-up.

Just as all of the next 24 matches will be. Each is an opportunity for England to make a statement in a similar way to Woodward's team did before their 2003 triumph. England's rugby union side turned up to that World Cup in Australia in good form, with a large number of experienced, world class players in their ranks and with the confidence, borne of excellent recent results, to know they could win it. If England's cricket team arrive at next year's World Cup in a similar position, they will take some stopping.