Rating England’s 2026 T20 World Cup Squad

After England crashed out of the T20 World Cup with a seven-run loss to India, it closed the door on an entertaining, albeit unconvincing, campaign. After wins over the confederate nations in the group stage, England appeared to accelerate during the Super Eights stage.

Big wins over Sri Lanka, Pakistan and New Zealand saw a tantalising clash with India in the semi-final. A poor performance with the ball saw England set 254 to win, and despite a valiant effort and a tournament high score of 246, it wasn't enough.

Let's take a brief look at each man's individual tournament and give them a rating out of 10, with six being an average score.

England's 2026 T20 World Cup Squad

Rating the Men in the Middle

Phil Salt 4/10

Good in the field, disappointing with the bat, especially when it mattered. For an opening batter, he averaged just 16.25. A high score of 62 against Sri Lanka in the Super Eights helped England to the win, but five scores below 10 in eight games is a very poor return.

Jos Buttler 3/10

Jose Buttler, on paper, has had a woeful tournament. Opening alongside fellow out of form batter, Phil Salt, Buttler has averaged just 10.88 with the bat. For someone who is highly regarded as England’s greatest ever white-ball player, it’s a shocking return. With the gloves, he wasn’t bad. He took three catches and recorded three stumpings. He gets a three out of 10 as he was useful for Harry Brook to lean on in times of difficulty.

Harry Brook 7/10

Captain Harry Brook. He’s had a difficult tournament as captain for several reasons; however, having kept largely the same team throughout, that was one headache removed. He moved himself up the order to #3 partway through the tournament to utilise his ability in the powerplay.

Known as one of the biggest hitters England has had in recent times, a greater return would be expected. He averaged 31.88 with the bat, which included a match-winning, blistering century against Pakistan.

He had a semi-final to forget, dropping Sanju Samson on 15 for one of the easiest catches you’ll see. The Indian opener would go on to score 89 off 42 balls, and the dropped catch potentially cost England the match. He would score just seven runs in the huge run chase, being caught off Jasprit Bumrah with the bowler's first delivery.

Jacob Bethell 8/10

Yet again, Jacob Bethell performed on the world stage. Coming off a hugely impressive Ashes series, all eyes were on the young left-hander. Kicking off in style with 55 runs, Bethell averaged 35 with the bat, including a monumental effort against India with a stand of 105. Smashing seven sixes and eight fours, he almost helped England get over the line. With the century, Bethell became only the fourth Englishman to score 100 runs in all three formats of the game, as well as being the youngest.

He wasn’t selected as a bowler by Brook, only bowling once, but in the field, he was England’s most reliable player.

Tom Banton 5/10

Tom Banton had a tournament in which he offered very little. He was clumsy in the field, and as a batsman, he disappointed massively. A top score of 63* against Scotland was the highlight; however, as a #4, averaging just 19.38, he was frustratingly poor. After an impressive start against India, he got greedy and was easily bowled for 17. It may be time to look elsewhere, and it could be the end of his T20 career.

Sam Curran 7/10

Sam Curran won England their first game and saved them from embarrassment when he bowled a fantastic final over against Nepal. He picked up six wickets during the tournament; however, was particularly expensive against India, going 0/53. He averaged 20.88, although he stifled the run rate on more than one occasion, scoring considerably slower than seemed possible.

Will Jacks 9/10

Stunning tournament, amazing with the ball, even better with the bat as a death batsman. Sporting a bleached blonde haircut, Jacks became England’s most important player. With four player of the match awards, his accomplishments speak for themselves.

With nine tournament wickets and an average of 28.25, he was trusted to bowl during the powerplay and was relied upon to win games, which he did so on multiple occasions.

Jamie Overton 6/10

Jamie Overton didn’t feature during the first match, however, once he did, he was good for his place. He was able to suffocate bowlers and offered something different to Jofra Archer. Picking up nine wickets in six games, he was a solid inclusion.

Liam Dawson 7/10

Liam Dawson had somewhat of a career revival at 36 years old. Trusted as an alternative spinner, Dawson impressed when he bowled in the powerplay. Taking eight wickets, including three important wickets against Pakistan, Dawson was a great addition to the team. His strike-rate isn’t good enough to be regarded as an ‘all-rounder’ in T20 cricket; however, he should definitely keep his place going forward.

Jofra Archer 6/10

Perhaps controversially, Jofra Archer is getting an average score. He’s in the team to keep the run rate of the opposition down and take wickets. He was only able to do one of these two key things. He took 11 wickets; however, in England’s two losses, he was the most expensive bowler, going for 48 against the West Indies and a massive 61 against India. He won’t ever be dropped and rightfully so, but the pitches during this World Cup didn’t seem to suit him as much as other pace bowlers.

Adil Rashid 8/10

Adil Rashid continues to be one of England’s most consistent and reliable bowlers. Often bowling the seventh over after the powerplay, Rashid struck in every game aside from the opener. Picking up 13 wickets and often suffocating the opposition batsmen, Rashid has yet another strong tournament.

Rehan Ahmed 9/10

It’s a small sample size as Rehan Ahmed only played one game. With that in mind, recording bowling stats of 2/33 and a match-winning 19 from seven balls, including two sixes, he couldn’t have done much more.

Luke Wood 4/10

Luke Wood played in the first game of the tournament for England against Nepal, however, you’d be hard pushed to remember his impact. Bowling three overs, Wood went at 10.33 an over and, although he picked up a wicket, he finished with figures of 31/1.

Ben Duckett

After a duck in a warm-up game against Pakistan, Ben Duckett wasn’t selected in any of the World Cup games.

Josh Tongue

After cementing himself as a guaranteed name on the Test team sheet following heroics in the final few Ashes games, Josh Tongue didn’t get a look in during this tournament.