"If Ben Stokes is in the starting XI then he would be ideal for No. 6"- Mark Butcher ahead of 2023 World Cup

Former England cricketer Mark Butcher feels Ben Stokes can play at No.6 in the World Cup to be played in India later this year. The all-rounder reversed his ODI retirement decision to help Jos Buttler and Co. try and defend their World Cup crown in October-November.

Buttler played the No. 6 role during England's glorious run to the World Cup title in 2019. However, with the current England captain batting higher in the order, Butcher feels Stokes is more suited to the No. 6 position than someone else like Liam Livingstone.

Speaking to Wisden Cricket, here's what Mark Butcher had to say about Ben Stokes' ideal batting position in the ODI World Cup:

"If you have gone to Ben and brought him in the side then that's his position (No. 6) isn't it? The guy who has the ability to play through all the gears from 1 to 8. You're quite happy watching Ben walk out to bat at 90/4 with 30 overs left to bat. If Ben Stokes is in the starting XI then he would be ideal for No. 6."

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Mark Butcher on England's World Cup squad balance

Mark Butcher also shed light on the lack of out-and-out pace options England have in their squad and also feels they might have one option too many when it comes to medium-pace all-rounders.

On this, he stated:

"One can wonder whether there are too many medium-pace all-rounders in the squad and not enough specialist batters and bowlers of higher pace and do they need as many quicks as they are taking at the moment."

It will be interesting to see if England go back on their decision to leave out Harry Brook and bring him in at the expense of one of the medium pace options.

England's provisional World Cup squad: Jos Buttler (captain), Moeen Ali, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, David Willey, Mark Wood, Chris Woakes.