England Cricket / Tareq Quiroz / 20 May 2009 / Leave a comment

After their miserable Test series performance, the West Indies will relish the opportunity to salvage some pride in the first one day international. And, with England's minds perhaps already on the Ashes, Tareq Quiroz is backing Chris Gayle's men at Headingley.

After two fairly academic wins for England in the Test series we now head into a much welcomed ODI series.

It's fair to say that West Indies players and fans will be looking forward to this contest more than they were the cold and rainy tests. Chris Gayle may not speak for all of his team-mates on every subject but I think his general leaning to the shorter form of the game reflects how the West Indies view the Tests.

England will be buoyant after the Test matches but will still make a couple of changes to the squad for the ODI's. Don't expect to see Alastair Cook and Graham Onions in the line-up with a certain recall for Dimitri Mascarenhas and probably Owais Shah too. I would like to see Shah given a go but he didn't feature at all in the IPL and the selectors may favour Ian Bell. A further mention must go to Eoin Morgan. The Middlesex left-hander is in the squad but I doubt he will get the nod in the first ODI. Don't be surprised to see him later in the series though.

The West Indies will also make a couple of changes from the stuttering Test side. The most notable of those is definitely the return of Dwayne Bravo. He is a fantastic all-rounder and was sorely missed in the Tests. He will add much needed zest to the West Indies, as will recent call-up Runako Morton. He is a big hitter and if he gets a chance then expect him to take it with both hands.

It is a tricky one to price up as you have to be careful not to read too much into the recent Test series. The ODI series in the West Indies was a close affair and one that England just shaded 3-2. The West Indies will probably count themselves a little unfortunate to have lost that and will be fired up to try and get their revenge.

There is a lot going on in the world of cricket at the moment and the ominous shadow of the Ashes is looming. The Aussies announced their squad this week and you can be sure that a fair amount of the questions posed to the England team will be about the Ashes. If I was backing England in this first ODI I would have some concerns that they might be distracted. Couple that possibility with some quite understandable complacency following the Tests and you have a risky proposition.

Whilst I don't have the greatest faith in the West Indies, I do think they will up their game considerably for this ODI and they are definitely the team with a point to prove. At current odds of [2.48] in the Match Odds market, West Indies are my pre-match bet.

Headingley is the venue for this fixture and the ground is currently undergoing some serious construction work. Whilst it won't look pretty, the pitch and outfield are in good shape and are still expected to play well. The problem may be the weather as the forecast is for showers throughout the day. It is not out of the question that we will get another game using the Duckworth and Lewis method.

If the bad weather does turn up then it makes the Top Batsmen markets very interesting. As long as all batsmen in the market are named in the starting XI then only one run needs to be scored by the entire team for the market to stand. With that in mind it may be best to go for an opening batsman with a guaranteed run for your money. Chris Gayle may not have had the best Test series but in the final innings he played some decent shots for a quick half century so is clearly in decent nick. At odds of [4.7] in the Top West Indies Batsman market I think he is the best value bet in those markets.

I get the feeling the West Indies mean business for this series so let's hope that this is the start of a glorious few months of cricket.