England’s ODI captain Eoin Morgan has confirmed that Jonny Bairstow will open for his country alongside Alex Hales in the forthcoming five-match series with the West Indies. The Yorkshireman won’t have to keep wicket, however, with Jos Buttler again preferred behind the stumps in limited-overs cricket.
England are a general 2/5 to win the upcoming series with the West Indies available at 49/20 with Marathonbet, even though the tourists won Saturday’s one-off T20 match a shade cosily.
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The return of Chris Gayle has given the Windies a massive boost. The 37-year-old Jamaican, arguably the world’s most explosive opening batsman, has scored 22 one-day centuries and 47 fifties. He hit a quick-fire 40 in Saturday’s T20 win and is undoubtedly the tourists’ star name, though Marlon Samuels, Kieron Pollard and Carlos Brathwaite are also dangerous players. The Windies are still struggling to qualify by right for the next World Cup but not even a big series win in England is likely to be enough to edge them into the world’s top eight in the time remaining.
England still can’t get over the line in major tournaments but have been one of the more consistent one-day international sides of the last two years since an embarrassing exit in the last World Cup. Ben Stokes was rested for the T20 match but is ready to renew his feud with Samuels which adds spice to the series.
Maybe conditions in England in the autumn will better suit the home side but the Windies have new-found confidence and are not the underdogs that the odds suggest. Adil Rashid appeals at 10/3 to be leading England wicket-taker in the five-match series while Samuels is a general 9/2 to be Top West Indies run-scorer.
