Competition within any team, in any sport, is always a key part of their success. I watched the FA Cup Final yesterday and it was amazing to see Man City blow Watford away despite the fact that a few of their big-name players were missing. The reason for City's success (other than just money) is that they have almost every position covered by at least 2 high-quality players. Besides meaning that they can rest and rotate their starting 11, it also means that there is always an incentive for the player in possession of the shirt to play to their potential because you know the guy behind you is ready to take your place if you don't.

The same thing seems to be happening for England at present as they prepare for the World Cup. Throughout the Pakistan series, we have seen England rest and rotate players and by in large the changes that they have made have lead to the players being given a chance staking a claim for a spot in the World Cup squad.

In the match on Thursday, we saw Tom Curran come back into the side and take 4 wickets. Mark Wood showed that even before the rise of Joffra Archer they have had pace in the side by sending one of the Pakistani openers to hospital with a ball that cracked him on the elbow. James Vince slotted in as an opener and helped to give England the kind of start that we are now used to with the usual Roy and Bairstow partnership. Jos Buttler proved an adequate replacement for Eoin Morgan as captain and even Ben Stokes stepped up to the plate as he was asked to bat higher-up the order and guided England to victory.

Prior to that we have seen good performances from the likes of Willey and Woakes and even Ben Foakes has had a positive impact when he was drafted in for the Ireland match. That means that England now have a core of about 20 players to choose from in both ODI and T20 cricket.

A lot of the time you hear managers and coaches talking about how a selection headache is a good thing to have. England certainly have that headache now because when the squad is finalized in the near future 2 or 3 players who have been performing well will feel rightly aggrieved not to have been included for what looks like England's best chance of winning a World Cup since their appearance in the final all the way back in 1992. The big question that still remains though is will they get that selection right?