England will get their tour of the West Indies started with the first of their three-match ODI series at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua this Sunday.
This has been a happy hunting ground for England in recent times as they have won their last four visits here. However, the hosts have also experienced a good run of results in North Sound lately and will be determined to get the series off to a winning start.
Match preview
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England return to one-day international action almost a month after a horrendous World Cup campaign that saw them relinquish their crown to the now six-time champions Australia.
The Three Lions failed to even make the knockout stages of the competition and ended in the bottom half of the leaderboard after spending a fair amount of the tournament at the bottom of the table.
Nevertheless, the rebuild for the next edition of the World Cup begins now and the English will need a solid performance in this series to bring back some much-needed confidence in the dressing room.
While there was lots of speculation in the build-up to this trip, the English and Welsh Cricket Board have opted to maintain faith in Jos Buttler as the captain, but there are several regular faces that have been left behind.
It is also worth mentioning that the stop clock, which the ICC is testing in international limited-overs matches from December 2023 to April 2024, will be making its debut in this series.
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Speaking of teams in transition periods, the West Indies have undergone a major overhaul in the last few years as they try to return to their glory days between the 1960s and 1980s when they were the undisputed world's best.
The hosts' last ODI series was against India back in July and ended in a 2-1 defeat, which followed a forgettable World Cup qualifying campaign where they failed to qualify for the marquee event for the first time in their history.
Now, under the leadership of wicket-keeper batsman Shai Hope, the Windies will have the opportunity to measure the progress they have made against an English outfit that are possibly still vulnerable from their World Cup disaster.
The most recent encounter between these two proud cricketing nations in an ODI series occurred in 2019, resulting in a 2-2 draw, and the West Indies have not secured an ODI series victory against England since 2007.
Team News
Ollie Pope, who has featured in 38 Test matches, is in line for this first 50-over debut for England, while John Turner is another who will be hoping to earn his first international cap.
Leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, Will Jacks and Test opener Zak Crawley are also expected to make the starting 11, while the likes of Chris Woakes, Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid are being saved for the shorter version of the series.
For the Windies, with 34 ODIs under his belt, Brandon King, at the age of 28, has amassed 1001 runs with an average of 31.28 and has cemented his position as a pivotal batsman expected to play a key role in the 50-over format.
Alzarri Joseph should lead the pace attack with the new ball, while the highly-rated Gudakesh Motie is expected to provide the change-up with his left-arm orthodox spin.
West Indies squad: Shai Hope (c), Alzarri Joseph (vc), Alick Athanaze, Yannic Cariah, Keacy Carty, Roston Chase, Shane Dowrich, Matthew Forde, Shimron Hetmyer, Brandon King, Gudakesh Motie, Kjorn Ottley, Sherfane Rutherford, Romario Shepherd, Oshane Thomas
England squad: Jos Buttler (c), Rehan Ahmed, Gus Atkinson, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Tom Hartley, Will Jacks, Liam Livingstone, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Phil Salt, John Turner
We say: England to win
While England were far from their best in India last month, a portion of their poor performances could arguably have been attributed to the conditions in the sub-continent, which they never really seemed to be comfortable in. However, with pitches that resemble their own more closely here in the Caribbean and with a host of fresh new faces, we are expecting a much better showing from the Three Lions.
