England were the favourites before the Cricket World Cup began and being the host country only heightened that expectation. The competition was first held in 1975 and was last held over here in 1999 when Australia beat New Zealand in the final. England have never won the competition but have lost the final on three occasions. Later this summer the team will host the 2019 Ashes series throughout August and September. In total there are 10 teams competing in the round-robin group stage of the competition before four teams advance to the semi-finals and the winning two will then contest the final. The 10 teams competing are: Afghanistan Australia Bangladesh England India New Zealand Pakistan South Africa Sri Lanka West Indies The Emirates Old Trafford will host five games across the tournament including one semi-final on July 9. weather widget View fullscreen Semi-finals: Semi-final 1 (1st vs 4th) – Old Trafford – July 9 Semi-final 3 (2nd vs 3rd) – Edgbaston – July 11 The final will be held at Lord’s in London on Sunday July 14 . England’s World Cup squad: Eoin Morgan (capt), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Jos Buttler (wk), Tom Curran, Liam Dawson, Liam…