I think England have to be favourites for their World Cup final against New Zealand.

For me, an England v India showdown at Lord’s tomorrow would have been the ideal final because of the atmosphere it would have generated, but you have to give credit to New Zealand. They are in the final and they have made it there with the likes of Martin Guptill not firing for them yet.

No matter what path a team takes to get to a final, you have to be one of the most consistent sides at the tournament and both sides have definitely been consistent.

For England, everyone has contributed at this World Cup. We are not carrying anybody, which is a strong place to be in.

We almost put in the perfect performance in our eight-wicket semi-final win against Australia on Thursday with the manner in which we played the game.

Jason Roy was a joy to watch on his way to 85.

At the moment, the 28-year-old seems to be playing with a huge amount of confidence. But we do need to show we can win without him performing.

Roy was controversially dismissed, though, given out by umpire Kumar Dhamasena, caught behind off Pat Cummins, despite replays showing he hadn’t touched the ball.

I felt for Roy because it was a poor decision to give him out. When I was watching it on TV, initially, I thought he had nicked it because there was a bit of a sound, although the TV didn’t pick up anything.

For his reaction to his dismissal, Roy was fined two demerit points and 30 per cent of his fee and he did push the boundary. As cricketers, we can’t do that. We have a responsibility to the game and the youngsters watching, but I can understand why he reacted how he did.

Roy took the stage at Edgbaston after England’s bowlers had restricted Australia to 223 all out in 49 overs.

Our start with the ball took all the momentum away from Australia. We were quality inside the first 10 overs. We just looked like we had a clear plan, and we looked like we executed our plans extremely well.

There was a ruthless commitment from Chris Woakes and Jofra Archer, our opening bowlers.

Woakes, taking 3-20 from his eight overs, ended with the best figures of any of the England bowlers in our semi-final. He gets a great seam position, so that he swings it and, if doesn’t swing, then the ball still has the ability to seam.

You don’t want to hold the seam of the ball dead straight. You want to hold the ball in such a way that, when the ball starts to wobble, some move and some go straight on.

It’s a great delivery and it’s something Woakes has mastered over the last couple of years.

England were so convincing that, in the end, the depth of the batting line-up wasn’t even particularly needed and that’s what we wanted.

Openers Jonny Bairstow and Roy did much of the damage in our run-chase, as they put on a 124-run partnership.

From the six times the duo have opened together in this tournament, they have scored 548 runs at an average of more than 90. It’s absolutely phenomenal what they have achieved.

With England in the final, it will be shown live on free-to-air television on Channel 4. I’m sure, this weekend, the final will be the hot topic on everyone’s lips at cricket grounds around the country.

I just hope all cricket gets put back a week and everybody is given the chance to watch it. It would be brilliant if that were to happen.

With the final taking place at Lord’s, the home of cricket, I’m sure there will be a partisan atmosphere. With it being a home World Cup, there should be a lot more England supporters than New Zealand ones.

Had we faced India in the final, it was always going to be a concern that there would be a sea of blue shirts. But, hopefully, England’s fans can be our 12th man. It’s going to be awesome, and I’m sure Lord’s will be rocking.

The fact New Zealand managed to spring a surprise and get the better of India in the other semi-final shows the competitive nature of the tournament.

It has been a brilliant World Cup. Even the likes of Afghanistan and Bangladesh have put in some brilliant performances and beaten some good teams.

That’s what most cricket fans want. We want the gap between the best teams and the newcomers to be as small as possible.

Getting the better of New Zealand and winning the World Cup will certainly be no easy task for England.

They are a class act. We have spoken about Roy and Bairstow as a dangerous opening partnership for us. Their openers haven’t been as consistent as they would have liked, but they do have the firepower, and Guptill and Henry Nicholls can both take the game away from you.

We know their captain, Kane Williamson, is a shrewd operator. Ross Taylor and Jimmy Neesham can take the game away from you, as well, and Colin de Grandhomme is a clean striker of the ball.

Then, I think their new-ball bowling is their strength with Trent Boult, Matt Henry, Tim Southee and Lockie Ferguson all at their disposal. They all have pace and they are all different.

They cover all bases, so we need to be on our game. But I think man-for-man, we just have a little more depth.