What can England get out of ODI Series v Windies?

Following on from the recent T20 Tri-Series which concluded with a convincing win for West Indies in the final, England take on their hosts again almost immediately, but this time in a three match ODI series. All the games are being played at the Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad and it will be England’s last outing before the Ashes series in Australia in January.

England will not be that upset at having lost the T20 competition, but they will be concerned at the manner of the loss. True they had a young squad – with debuts for bowlers Beth Langston and Tash Farrant and some opportunities for Lauren Winfield – but their batting looked weak in all the T20 matches they played and their bowling rather toothless. The Windies in contrast have already beaten New Zealand in a similar series 2-1 prior to the T20 Tri-Series, and their tails will be up. They have nothing to fear against this England side, and are a side on the up, ever since making the final of the 50 Over World Cup earlier this year. They do however still rely very heavily on Stafanie Taylor, both with bat and ball, and the potentially explosive Deandra Dottin. England cannot afford to let these two settle with the bat. They will have to make plans to attack them hard and get them out early.

In the England camp their will be concerns about their batting. Charlotte Edwards missed a couple of the T20 games through injury and without her England’s batting looks weak. The pressure is on Sarah Taylor to fulfil the potential that she obviously has as a great bat. She needs to not only look stylish, but bat long. This series is a great opportunity for her to do so. It is also surely time for England to move away from considering Danielle Wyatt as an opener. They have Lauren Winfield and Amy Jones in the squad, both of whom can fulfil this role. Wyatt started life as an off-spinner who batted a bit, but she has bowled just two overs on this tour at the cost of 19 runs. 

Looking beyond the skills of Taylor and Dottin the West Indies have the added advantage of a wrist spinner in 17 year old Shaquana Quintyne. She may be young, but she has been involved with the West Indies team for sometime and is continuing to improve her art. There are not many good leg-spinners in women’s cricket and the girls find it tough to deal with – forcing the right-handers to try and play through the off-side rather than their natural preference for the leg-side. Her 10 over spell and that of Taylor could mean a tough 20 over section in the middle of the game for England.

West Indies have to be favourites to win the series as they ride their current wave of success, but if England can actually put some runs on the board then they will be in with a shout. Holly Colvin’s slow left-arm spin could be a potential match-winner for England if the Windies are under pressure to score runs.

Fixtures

29^th October – 1^st ODI Queen’s Park Oval Trinidad (13.00 GMT)
1^st November – 2^nd ODI Queen’s Park Oval Trinidad (18.00 GMT)
3^rd November – 3^rd ODI Queen’s Park Oval Trinidad (18.00 GMT)

Squads

West Indies - Merissa Aguilleira (Captain), Shemaine Campbelle, Shanel Daley, Deandra Dottin, Chinelle Henry, Stacy-Ann King, Kyshona Knight, Anisa Mohammed, Juliana Nero, Shaquana Quintyne, Shakera Selman, Tremayne Smartt, Stafanie Taylor.

England - Charlotte Edwards (Captain), Tammy Beaumont , Holly Colvin, Katie Cross, Natasha Farrant, Lydia Greenway, Jenny Gunn, Danielle Hazell, Amy Jones, Beth Langston, Natalie Sciver , Sarah Taylor, Lauren Winfield, Danielle Wyatt.

MD

28/X/13