In this day of shortened and condensed tours it is quite refreshing to see a third cricket tour begin on Wednesday morning when the West Indies begin their trek of Sri Lanka.
The two nations meet in two Test matches before three ODIs ahead of the Caribbean men finishing their tour with a couple of T20 matches next month.
Sri Lanka embark on their first full series without the great Kumar Sangakkara here but they are expected to have too much for the West Indies especially in these conditions.
It wouldn’t be a West Indies tour without some controversy surrounding it and this tour’s debacle has centred around the coach Phil Simmons being suspended for questioning the selectors selection. It gives the Windies an excuse to play poorly although I’m not convinced they needed one.
Sri Lanka have lost four of their last five Test series so this one has come at a good time for them to build some confidence ahead of the series they have to come. West Indies have only won one of their last seven series and even that was at home to Bangladesh so we’ve got two poor, out of form sides in opposition here.
Galle and Colombo will host this series. Obviously whenever there is cricket in Sri Lanka we are at the mercy of the weather gods and hopefully the rains will stay away enough for both matches to be completed.
Given the likelihood of rain affecting the series I’m in no rush to bet on the winner of it although you would think Sri Lanka only need to beat the elements to win the series. If the forecast gets worse then a bet on the 0-0 could pay dividends but for now I’ll leave the series outright.
One bet I do like for the series comes in the form of the Top West Indies Series batsman market where Marlon Samuels looks a touch overpriced to me at 4/1.
Samuels is a class act who has the patience and the quality for Test cricket and who can play seam and spin equally as well and while I’m never one for getting too involved in outrights on two match series his 4/1 is just about big enough to reel me in.
Back M.Samuels Top West Indies Series Batsman for a 2/10 stake at 5.00 with Paddy Power
