Events / Editor / 15 May 2007 /

England kick off their summer Test campaign on Thursday when the West Indies are the first international visitors of the year to Lord's for the opening game in a four-game series that should prove to be an intriguing battle between two troubled sides.

The tourists have had very little in the way of preparation for this first match, with their opening clash against Somerset all but ruined by the wet weather in the West Country, and Betfair punters are clearly worried, as the Windies are 11.5 underdogs in the match odds market and 11 to win the series outright.

The tourists finally arrived in England late last week after a troubled few weeks following the end of their disappointing bid to win the World Cup in the Caribbean. Right up until the start of the month, they had not appointed a coach, a captain or named a squad, and whether they can overcome all of the hurdles that have been put in their way is a huge question mark.

Interim coach Dave Moore is confident the party they have hurriedly put together still has enough talent to give England a real challenge, and skipper Ramnaresh Sarwan is 'quietly confident' that the series will not be the mismatch that many pundits expect it to be.

The main problem for them appears to be the lack of a natural successor to the retired Brian Lara, not only in his position as one of the top three batsmen in world cricket, but also as captain, with Sarwan's credentials not exactly shining bright - he is one of a number of their squad who has been disciplined by team management for past indiscretions.

But Sarwan does form part of a batting line-up, along with Chris Gayle, Devon Smith and Shivnarine Chanderpaul, that could put up some decent numbers if they are able to overcome their lack of experience in English conditions.

Those four will have to hit the ground running from Thursday, and all will feature in the top West Indies batsman market, with Gayle the most likely to head the list despite a dreadful World Cup that ended with his place in a great deal of doubt. He had a fine tour of England in 2004, passing 50 on four occasions, including in both innings at Lord's (66, 81) in a match they lost by a whopping 210 runs.

The only player from the current squad that came close to outshining him in that Lord's game was Chanderpaul, who very nearly scored centuries in both innings and went on to compile an average of nearly 50 in the series.

But preparations for that first Test three years ago were very different to this one, as they had already played 14 games before lining up at Lord's and had no excuse for rust. That would have to worry anyone thinking there may be a shock on the cards in this game, with England a very short-priced favourite at 1.66 to win at headquarters, and 1.26 to win the series.

West Indies' supporters will also be worried about the way they started their game with Somerset last weekend, with the Sabres relatively powder-puff attack reducing them to 44-4 - Steffan Jones took three early wickets - on a placid Taunton pitch. Steve Harmison and Matthew Hoggard, both in excellent form, will be licking their lips in anticipation if England's bowlers are given first chance on Thursday morning.

The weather could well play a big part in the outcome of the game and the way the captains think about their strategy should they win the toss. England, for example, have a big decision to make about the final place in their team. Both sides will have to hope that the bad weather to have hit London in the last week or so will have disappeared - forecasts are mixed for Thursday but improve thereafter.

The 12-man squad named by new coach Peter Moores included a couple of new names in Matt Prior and Owais Shah, although there is conjecture about Shah's inclusion; some feel it was solely as cover for Kevin Pietersen, in case his calf injury does not clear up in time, and others say he has a chance of playing along with Pietersen if Moores decides to go with only a four-man top-line bowling attack.

Andrew Strauss captains the side in the absence of Michael Vaughan (broken finger), and the rest of the side should be fairly easy to predict - it seems either Shah will bat at five or Liam Plunkett will be utilised as a fifth bowler depending on the way the Lord's pitch looks likely to play, unless the decision is taken out of his hands by Andrew Flintoff's ongoing ankle injury struggles.

Moores could certainly have had tougher opposition for his baptism into international coaching, but there should be no room for complacency and he has a solid reputation for instilling professionalism in his players from his county days, when he was very successful with Sussex.

Strauss has an excellent record at Lord's, which is of course his county home, averaging 68.10 in his six Test innings there, including 128 against Pakistan last year when batsmen were well on top. Paul Collingwood and Ian Bell also scored centuries in the drawn encounter as England's winless run at the home of cricket was extended to three games.

All three will have to be considered in a wide-open top England batsman market, while Shah would also be of interest if he gets a place as another player with huge experience of the unique pitch and the ridge that runs across it. It is worth remembering that he scored 88 and 38 in difficult unfamiliar conditions in Mumbai in his only previous Test against India back in March 2006.

Hoggard would be of interest in the top England bowler market, as he has only once in his last 10 innings failed to get at least two wickets. His record is fairly similar to Harmison's (27 wickets in seven games) although the Durham paceman is the only one of the two to have a five-wicket haul in any single innings.

And Harmison's form in the early part of the season has been one of the major talking points in domestic cricket, as he cemented his place in the international team with 27 wickets at an average of under 15 runs per in his four county games for Durham. Hoggard's 20 wickets at 18.80 means England should just have too many guns for the tourists.

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