West Indies v England First ODI Tips; England's reserves a dreadful price

• Windies too big

• Hope a go-to option

• England look to reset

West Indies v England
Sunday 3 December, 13:30
TV: Live on TNT Sports

West Indies v England First ODI team news

West Indies are attempting another rebuild, which could be said about most of their series these days. They've left out Darren Bravo, despite domestic run gluts, while Shane Dowrich has retired after being named in the squad.

Much rests on Shai Hope's prowess with the bat. Much is expected of Alick Athanaze. There is no Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Nic Pooran or Kyle Mayers. Oshane Thomas' return is a boost, though.

Possible XI: Hope, King, Carty, Athanaze, Hetmyer, Chase, Shepherd, Cariah, Joseph, Motie, Thomas

Only Gus Atkinson, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran and, of course, Jos Buttler survive from the original World Cup squad. Brydon Carse, a late inclusion in India, is also involved.

If this is a white-ball reset it is a surprise that Sam Hain is not picked. Instead England seem determined to get Zak Crawley involved and he may be lined for a captaincy role in this format. Harry Brook is carrying the batting somewhat.

Aggressive starts and a potential wayward bowling display is the intiial thoughts when picking an XI.

Possible XI: Salt, Duckett, Crawley, Brook, Buttler, Livingstone, Curran, Rehan, Carse, Atkinson, Turner

West Indies v England First ODI pitch report

There were three ODI played at North Sound in 2021. All between West Indies and Sri Lanka, all won by the hosts chasing and all pretty reliable on the innings runs front with scores in the first dig of: 232, 272, 273.

An in-play option on innings runs could well be a short of the par line with West Indies putting together a 60-70 run partnership. No rain is forecast.

West Indies v England First ODI match odds

Although World Cup form has to be considered irrelevant because this is a different team, England at such prohbitive odds of 1.374/11 really does stink the place out.

Their supposed full-strength team wasn't going off as short against similar-skiled opposition so we have to take them on here. If this is a reserve team, it's a bad price. If it's a full reset (they're not likely to get it right first time), it's a bad price.

There's no point making out West Indies are the team hugely misjudged. They didn't even qualify for the World Cup after all. But England at home inspires them and they have managed one-off scalps against the likes of India and New Zealand in their backyard since August 2022.

If backing them makes you nervous, they do have a better record chasing in the last two years so you can wait for the toss for that comfort rug.

West Indies v England First ODI player bets

Hope has been one of the most reliable wagers for top runscorer in this format for several years. Across his entuire career his win rate stands at 29% so a boosted 4/15.00 with Sportsbook (implied probability of 20%) means that we have a bet on our hands. There's not much to beat. For England, Brook is 4/15.00.

Sportsbook have changed their rules on the top bowler market. If two or more bowlers have taken the same number of wickets, the bowler who has conceded the fewest runs will now be the winner. If there are two or more bowlers with the same wickets taken and runs conceded, dead heat rules will apply.

Oshane Thomas used to be a go-to option. He looks big at 4/15.00 but we'd rather he not be bowling at the death considering the rule change.

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