England's Joe Root said that the omission of batsman Alex Hales has had a unifying effect on the team. Hales had been named in the preliminary squad for the World Cup, that starts on May 30, despite serving a 21-day suspension following an "off-field incident", which The Guardian later reported was a positive test for recreational drugs.

After the matter went public, Hales was subsequently dropped from the team. Captain Eoin Morgan said that the incident had led to a "complete breakdown in trust" and that all the senior players of the team agreed that dropping Hales was the best decision.