England continue their winter of cricket this week when they head to the Caribbean to compete in a three match Test series against West Indies. Historically this would be as tough a tour as there is but that isn’t really the case anymore so England will fancy their chances of success.
West Indies have fallen out of love with the longest format of the game but if they can pull out something of a shock here then the interest might yet return. There will be more profile on this series with England in town and from a watching viewpoint you just hope the hosts can be competitive.
Schedule
1st Test: 23-27 Jan at Barbados
2nd Test: 31 Jan – 4 Feb at Antigua
3rd Test: 9-13 Feb at St Lucia
West Indies
The home side go into this series off the back of just one win in their last five series and that was only against Bangladesh so they are up against it here it has to be said. Mind you they were said to be up against it in England a couple of years ago and they actually picked up a famous win at Headingley in that series so that should give them something to draw upon.
There is talent in this West Indies side and there will be sessions where they are on top. If they are to get anything at all from the series they have to not just win sessions but put winning sessions together. Patience is a big thing. Often sides who struggle in this format of the game find keeping their nerve tough so that is the other task in hand for the hosts.
England
England have already passed one tricky assignment this winter when they whitewashed Sri Lanka and they will be out to repeat that when they go up against West Indies over the next month or so. England are becoming a much more accomplished outfit in this format of the game but they still have a fragile look to their batting and with the next Ashes series closing in they will be hoping a few batsmen step up and secure their spots here.
England go into the series having lost just two of their last seven in this format but one of those was in Australia last year which will have annoyed them. England have plenty of batting depth but if they are to become the best side in Test cricket again then their top order is going to have to start delivering the goods. They do have plenty of options in their bowling attack at the very least.
Head to Head
There have been 36 previous series between these two famous cricketing nations. West Indies have the edge in them having won 16 to the 14 that England have prevailed in. There have been six drawn series too. 15 of those series have been in the Caribbean with eight of them being won by the home side. Three have gone the way of England and four series have been drawn.
There have been more drawn matches between these two in the Caribbean than any other outcome. West Indies have won 25 matches at home while England have landed just 14 so history sides with the hosts here but the reality is that the tourists are the favourites for this series.
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Betting
I’ll go with the one bet in this series which comes in the form of the West Indies top batsman. Whenever we bet on the batsmen in this series we need to look for players who are good at playing spin. Spin is going to be a real feature over the next few weeks so it is imperative to take someone comfortable against the slower bowlers.
With that in mind I want to be on Roston Chase averages more than 42 in the West Indies and who is probably the best player of spin that West Indies have, with perhaps the exception of Darren Bravo but Moeen Ali could have him on toast. Chase made 68 in a First-class match in Barbados a couple of weeks ago so he has good recent form on the first ground of the series. If he gets off to a good start he could soon look mighty big at 7/1.
Tips
Back R.Chase Top West Indies Series Batsman for a 2/10 stake at 8.00 with BetVictor
Back him here:
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