Chris Gayle is set to play his first one-day international in more than two years after being included in a 15-man West Indies squad to take on Ireland and England this month.
After England secured a 2-1 Test Series win at Lord's last week, attention turns to the limited overs series which begins on Wednesday with a warm-up for the tourists against Ireland before an International T20 at Durham on Saturday and the first of the five-match ODI series next Tuesday at Old Trafford.
Gayle last played an ODI in the 2015 World Cup quarter-final but returned for West Indies in a Twenty20 against India earlier this summer following an improvement in player and board relations.
The big-hitting 37-year-old opener and all-rounder Marlon Samuels have both been named in a squad which will be led by Jason Holder - but Sunil Narine and Darren and Dwayne Bravo remain absent.
The West Indies currently ranked 9th in the ICC ODI Rankings ahead of the 2019 World Cup are battling to overtake Sri Lanka in eighth spot for an automatic spot as the qualifying cut off for the quadrennial tournament draws closer. West Indies can reach 88 points, but needs to practically whitewash England and Ireland to do so.
Teams not getting direct places in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 will get another shot through a Qualifying tournament to complete the line-up for the 10-team ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.
West Indies squad: Sunil Ambris, Devendra Bishoo, Miguel Cummins, Chris Gayle, Jason Holder (capt), Kyle Hope, Shai Hope, Alzarri Joseph, Evin Lewis, Jason Mohammed, Ashley Nurse, Rovman Powell, Marlon Samuels, Jerome Taylor, Kesrick Williams
England selectors have announced a 14-man squads for the NatWest IT20 match against West Indies on Saturday and for the Royal London ODI series that follows.
England 14-man squad versus West Indies NatWest IT20: Eoin Morgan (c), Jonathan Bairstow, Jake Ball, Jos Buttler, Tom Curran, Liam Dawson, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Dawid Malan, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, David Willey
England 14-man squad versus West Indies, Royal London ODI Series: Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jonathan Bairstow, Jake Ball, Jos Buttler, Tom Curran, Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy , Ben Stokes, David Willey, Chris Woakes
Two players – Moeen Ali and Ben Stokes – are rested for the IT20 match, whilst Sam Billings, Mason Crane, Liam Livingstone, Craig Overton and Mark Wood all miss out from the squad that was selected for the series against South Africa earlier this summer.
In respect of the ODI squad, Billings, Steven Finn and Wood are not selected having been part of the ICC Champions Trophy squad in June.
Fixtures
NatWest IT20 Saturday September 16 vs West Indies, Emirates, Riverside, Durham (6.30pm start)
Royal London ODI Series
1st ODI, Tuesday September 19 vs West Indies, Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester (12.30pm start)
2nd ODI, Tuesday September 21 vs West Indies, Trent Bridge, Nottingham (12.30pm start)
3rd ODI, Sunday September 24 vs West Indies, The Brightside County Ground, Bristol (11.00am start)
4th ODI, Wednesday September 27 vs West Indies, Kia Oval, London (12.30pm start)
5th ODI, Friday September 29 vs West Indies, The Ageas Bowl, Southampton (12.30pm start)
England will return to action in Cardiff next summer when The SSE SWALEC hosts the 2nd ODI of a five-match series against Australia. To register for priority access to tickets for this game please CLICK HERE