Key events
WICKET! Salt c Joseph b Seales 18 (England 39-1)
Seales was just changing ends. And it pays off as Salt skies a drive and Joseph, running back, takes a nonchalant catch.
8th over: England 39-0 (Salt 18, Jacks 18) The first bowler to be taken off is the immaculate Seales. Interesting. Alzarri Joseph replaces him and it doesn’t go well. His first ball brings four overthrows as Lewis’s sharp shy at the stumps surprises the fielders on the other side of the wicket. His second is a no-ball. His third, a free hit, goes better as Jacks can only inside-edge it for a single. Nine off the over, 17 off the past two.
7th over: England 30-0 (Salt 17, Jacks 11) Hope risks a fourth over from Forde. Salt retorts with a flash past gully for four, and then a better shot, a casual cuff past extra cover for four more. He’s warming up.
6th over: England 22-0 (Salt 9, Jacks 11) Seales continues, bowling cross-seam. The lone slip has now slipped away. Another good over from Seales (3-0-7-0), yielding only a single to each batter. Mark Butcher reveals that, in the last five ODIs on this ground, the team batting first have made (on average) 261, and it’s never been enough. Can England break that mould?
5th over: England 20-0 (Salt 8, Jacks 10) Most of the runs have come off Forde, but Hope still believes in him. He responds with a tighter over and nearly deceives Jacks with a slower ball, luring him into a loopy drive that lands just short of mid-off.
If this was Test cricket, England would have 40 by now.
4th over: England 19-0 (Salt 8, Jacks 9) Seales continues and Salt again clips for two to midwicket, but he can’t get after the other five balls.
“As a Warwickshire follower,” says Phil Russell, “it’s great to see Bethell and Mousley in the team, and hopefully Sam Hain will get more recognition before long too. Overall the line up does rather remind of the days of another Bears all-rounder, Dermot Reeve. Quite a lot of bits-and-pieces players for a 50 over game. A little concerned the batting will fizzle out and not go the distance.” That would be very on-brand.
3rd over: England 17-0 (Salt 6, Jacks 9) Forde strays onto the pads, allowing Jacks to help himself to a cheap four. That gets Jacks going and when Forde goes wide of off, he launches into a fierce cover-drive, struck on the up. The trumpeter celebrates with a blast of Go West by the Village People – or, if you prefer, the Pet Shop Boys.
2nd over: England 8-0 (Salt 6, Jacks 1) The other end has a knighthood too: the Sir Andy Roberts End. Jayden Seales opens the bowling there and keeps Will Jacks quiet, restricting him to a leg glance. Salt adds a clip for two.
“Evening Tim,” says Guy Hornsby, “cricket is happening! This is quite the XI for England. It feels very like a T20 side needing to play 50 overs, though I guess many players don’t really play the format any more. I’ll admit I’m mystified by Overton as a non-bowling all-rounder (I know he’s injured). It was funky in T20s, but feels a luxury here, even through the Bazball lens.
“I know a few batters are home who must be wondering what they need to do. Penny for the excellent Sam Hain’s thoughts… Still, come on England/cricket/West Indies!”
Sam Hain may have something else on his mind tonight. Many thanks to Steven Lynch of Wisden for pointing this out.
1st over: England 5-0 (Salt 4, Jacks 0) On a pitch like a biscuit, Forde makes a tidy start apart from one legside wide. Phil Salt plays himself in studiously for two balls, then bashes the third through the covers for four. “Some quite long grass out there,” says Mark Butcher. “Could be taking the aerial route.”
Matthew Forde has the new ball and is ready to steam in from the Sir Curtly Ambrose end. Ends, like stands and indeed stadiums, sound better without the knighthood, don’t they?
The teams line up, accompanied by some mildly baffled schoolchildren. West Indies are in maroon with a yellow trim, England in sky blue with navy trousers. The anthems ring out, one rather more lustily than the other. If it was a singing contest, West Indies would have won.
Teams in full
West Indies make only one change, bringing back Shimron Hetmyer. Like England, they were in action on the other side of the world just a few days ago (in Sri Lanka); unlike England, they were playing this form of the game.
The broadcasters, TNT, have Phil Salt down as England’s wicketkeeper, but there’s been plenty of talk of Jordan Cox too, so I’m going with a question mark or two.
England 1 Phil Salt (wkt?), 2 Will Jacks, 3 Jordan Cox (wkt?), 4 Jacob Bethell, 5 Liam Livingstone (capt), 6 Sam Curran, 7 Dan Mousley, 8 Jamie Overton, 9 Jofra Archer, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 John Turner.
West Indies 1 Evin Lewis, 2 Brandon King, 3 Keacy Carty, 4 Shai Hope (capt, wkt), 5 Sherfane Rutherford, 6 Shimron Hetmyer, 7 Roston Chase, 8 Gudakesh Motie, 9 Alzarri Joseph, 10 Matthew Forde, 11 Jayden Seales.
Four debutants for England
“We would have bowled first as well,” says Liam Livingstone. “But it looks a good pitch.” Asked how he feels to be captain, he says “incredibly proud”. He reveals that his team includes four ODI debutants – Jordan Cox, Dan Mousley, Jamie Overton and John Turner.
Toss: West Indies win and bowl
Shai Hope wins the toss and opts to bowl first, in case “it gets a bit wet” later on.
Preamble
Evening everyone. Another week, another continent, as The Only Ones so nearly sang. Five days after collapsing in a heap in Pakistan, England now have the chance to do it again in a different format in the Caribbean. I was going to say a shorter format, but that is now debatable. They will be hoping to stay in a bit longer than the 37 overs they managed the other day. As Brian Johnston used to observe, it’s a funny game.
It was less than a year ago that West Indies and England last met in an ODI at the Viv. We should really have a prize for anyone who can remember what happened. A glance at the scorecard shows that England won, with Liam Livingstone and Rehan Ahmed taking the wickets and Will Jacks, Harry Brook and Jos Buttler knocking off the runs.
Buttler is now injured and Brook rested, but the others are in the squad and Livingstone is about to become England’s sixth captain of the calendar year, which should at least stop him moaning about being too low in the order.
England’s line-up may well be a hotch-potch. The selectors seem to have reacted to the absence of the usual suspects by refusing to include any specialist batters. The top order could be a curious blend of wicketkeepers and slow-bowling all-rounders, although the attack makes up for any lack of experience with Jofra Archer, Reece Topley, Sam Curran and the great Adil Rashid.
West Indies, by contrast, can field a settled side, captained by Shai Hope and starring the explosive Evin Lewis. Play starts at 6pm GMT, weather permitting – there’s a bit of thunder in the air. See you just after 5.30 with news of the toss and (I hope) the teams.
