England vs West Indies

Squad in full and 10 things about the series:

 

Andrew Strauss (Middlesex, capt), James Anderson (Lancashire), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire), Ian Bell (Warwickshire), Tim Bresnan (Yorkshire), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Alastair Cook (Essex), Steven Finn (Middlesex), Graham Onions (Durham), Kevin Pietersen (Surrey), Matt Prior (Sussex, wk), Graeme Swann (Nottinghamshire), Jonathan Trott (Warwickshire)

1)      Jonny Bairstow, who maybe not a lot of people have heard of, is a brilliant young talent and someone who’s probably going to be in and around the international teams for a long time to come.

2)      It will probably come down to four out of six of the picked bowlers, and for my money the two left out will be Graham Onions and Tim Bresnan.

3)      Bairstow and Prior are both going for the number six position that would have been Ravi Bopara’s if he had been fit. Although based on previous I would say Prior will bat 6 and Bairstow 7 in the line-up on Thursday.

4)      Kevin Pietersen has been playing and scoring runs for the Delhi Daredevils but it’s a much bigger ask to go out on a swinging pitch in England in May and hit the ball as well as he has been doing.

5)      Andrew Strauss needs runs! This one cannot be said enough as if he fails again in another series he may struggle to hold on to his place especially with a winter ahead in the sub-continent.

6)      Ian Bell needs runs. Not in such a bad position as Strauss as Ian Bell scored a lot during the last year but he had a bad winter against Pakistan and Sri Lanka and could do with at least one maybe two centuries in the three match series.

7)      With three tests at Lords, Trent Bridge and Edgbaston and the last few weeks being full of rain will we even get enough play?

8)      Shivnarine Chanderpaul, well any cricketer or serious follower should know this person’s name. He is a fantastic batsman who very rarely looks in trouble and it’s going to be a big task for our bowlers to try and get him as early as possible in each innings.

9)      The West Indies have two good spinners and if we get some turning tracks they may be able to get their team into the games, although if we do get a turning wicket we have Graeme Swann so still feeling confident.

10)   Despite everything I’m going for a comfortable England win probably 3-0 and the only thing that I see stopping that is the weather.