Twenty20 / Editor / 02 July 2007 /

England v West Indies preview, Edgbaston, Wednesday, Live on Sky Sports

Paul Collingwood's England will be looking to wrap up their three-game one-day international series with the West Indies on Wednesday when the two sides meet for the penultimate time this summer at Edgbaston.

England overcame having the worst of the conditions in Sunday's first match at Lord's in style as their pace trio of James Anderson, Liam Plunkett and Stuart Broad proved far too much for a West Indian batting line-up, that never looked like recovering from 13-4 as they chased 226 to win.

The tourists can not have been pleased with their performance at Lord's as they won the toss, choosing to bowl with cloud cover when the ball was arcing all over the place before the sunshine emerged when they batted, making the final result all the more disappointing.

They managed to slow England's progress at the start of the innings, with only 29 runs coming off the vital first 10 power-play overs, although they struggled to take wickets early on. All of England's top five made vital runs, which made sure that a late collapse did not affect the final result.

But the fact that only 12 boundaries were scored by Collingwood's men shows what a struggle their innings was, and they will hope that things prove a little easier in Birmingham as they try to win their first one-day series at home since beating late-summer opponents India back in 2004.

However, punters will, as ever it seems this year, have to keep a keen eye on the weather on Wednesday with frequent showers forecast for the area. That leaves the possibility of a reduction in overs or even a cancelled game, which could have a serious effect on the markets.

At the moment, England's win in the opening game has seen them contract to 1.21 to win the series, while they are the 1.55 favourites to win on Wednesday. The West Indies are priced at 5.9 to win both the final two games, while they can be backed at 2.7 to win at Edgbaston.

The weather will also have a big effect on the thoughts of the captains at the toss, and Betfair has offered punters the chance to take an opinion on what they will do if the coin lands in their favour.

Keep an eye on the market as it develops and expect England to bowl first if there is plenty of cloud cover, with their swing bowlers showing significant signs of improvement since South African legend Alan Donald joined the team as a consultant.

But the home side cannot afford to show any signs of complacency at Edgbaston as they have had the knack of throwing in the odd stinker of a performance, and defeat here would leave them in a negative frame of mind going into the final game of the series at Trent Bridge on Saturday.

While the bowlers impressed at Lord's there was another fairly scuffling performance at the top of the batting order, as Alistair Cook and Matt Prior failed to make use of the fielding restrictions in the first 10 overs.

Although they did not lose a wicket until Cook fell in the 14th over, a total of 47 runs in that spell again proved that they are not equipped to make the most of the power-play and may lead punters to follow the West Indies in the opening partnership market despite their flop on Sunday.

Cook continues to be backed as a one-day player as he gains experience in the limited-overs form of the game, but while he develops his game and Prior tries to score quick runs at the other end, it is probably worth looking elsewhere in the top England run-scorer market.

Ian Bell took the honours at Lord's with a gritty knock of 56 off 75 balls, and showed his value to the side after missing the Twenty20 series (tied 1-1) with a groin injury - he should be among the favourites and he looks comfortable in the third spot in the order, despite some less than inspiring running between the wickets.

But the real momentum at Lord's came from Kevin Pietersen and Owais Shah, who look like the quickest scorers in the side, and if either gets a longer stay at the crease they both look in the mood to make a big innings.

The West Indies line-up was nothing short of pathetic in the early going on Sunday, even given the excellence of England's opening bowlers. They will have to have stemmed their apparent desire to take Twenty20 cricket into the 50-over game if they are to avoid putting themselves in a poor position, either batting first or chasing.

Much of the burden for the change will have to fall on rookie skipper Chris Gayle, who continues to frustrate the West Indies Cricket Board and punters alike with a combination of some superb stroke-play and some dreadful shots to get out.

Gayle and Marlon Samuels are clearly the most talented players in the side, but if they manage to total six between them as they did on Sunday then the tourists will find themselves on the back-foot again, relying on Shivnarine Chanderpaul to guide them to a score - it will be no surprise to see him as the favourite in the top West Indies batsman market.

Chanderpaul was the only player in their side to pass 30 at Lord's, and with the rest of the batsman suffering so badly, the chances of him moving up the order perhaps as high as the third spot, should not be under-estimated.

At least their bowling attack performed more positively at Lord's, where Fidel Edwards was superb in taking 5-45 in conditions that suited him down to the ground.

He appeared well rested after missing the Twenty20 games at the Oval, and the team's management should be applauded for leaving him out of a format that simply would not suit his game - something the England management might have thought about with the struggling Cook.

But they do not have the bowling depth of the England side without a fully-fit Dwayne Bravo - who was allowed to bowl only six overs at Lord's. They are similarly lacking in the spin department, where Samuels and Gayle combined are no match for Monty Panesar, who made the most of the pace attack taking early wickets to tie the Windies down for eight overs on Sunday.

It is hard to imagine England making any changes to the side if they do not have to. However, the likes of Michael Yardy and Ryan Sidebottom could both be relied upon to perform well if required, giving England the depth the West Indies simply do not have - youngsters Austin Richards and Lendl Simmons struggled in their outing in the second Twenty20 clash, which was also won well by England.

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