England will step up their preparations ahead of a huge summer of cricket with their first tour warm up clash against WICB President’s XI in St Kitts today before playing West Indies in three One-Day Internationals at the start of March, writes Rich Jones.
The two sides will do battle at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua on March 3 and March 5 before the series reaches a climax at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados on March 9.
With South Africa heading to the UK in May and the eagerly-anticipated ICC Champions Trophy taking place in June, England will be keen to build some momentum.
They narrowly lost out 2-1 to India in their last One-Day International Series in the sub-continent, but demonstrated plenty of positive signs.
Their clashes with the West Indies offer a big opportunity to get back to winning ways and continue to build on their impressive form in ODIs over the past 12 months.
India’s batting firepower simply proved too much for England as scores of 350+ were twice not quite enough for victory.
But there was plenty to take from their narrow series defeat. Jason Roy is continuing to impress at the top of the order, cracking three successive half centuries at a fast pace, whilst skipper Eoin Morgan struck a wonderful century in a losing effort in Cuttack.
The entire batting line-up has shown an ability to smack quick runs in most situations, with their strength in depth giving them the ability to reach big totals without needing any one player to reach three figures.
All-rounders Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes and David Willey all offer an excellent balance to the side as the nature of One Day cricket continues to progress.
However, they will need to try and keep things tighter with the ball against a West Indies side also capable of hitting the white ball a long distance.
Shipping 1053 runs across three games was their undoing against India, and their workmanlike bowling unit will need to tighten things up moving forwards.
Head coach Trevor Bayliss had originally named an unchanged squad for the tour, with Stuart Broad missing out on a recall and no replacement selected for Alex Hales after he broke his hand in the second ODI in India.
But with David Willey needing surgery on his injured left shoulder, Steven Finn has come in as a replacement.
Regardless of what the tour of the West Indies holds, this is an exciting time for English cricket in the limited overs arena.
They possess perhaps the most talented, charismatic side in their history and will certainly have hopes of mounting a real challenge for ICC Champions Trophy success on home soil.
With their huge clash with New Zealand taking place in Cardiff on Tuesday, June 6, Glamorgan supporters will undoubtedly be watching England’s latest tour with interest in the hope of witnessing a step on the road to major silverware a few months down the line.
CLICK HERE to secure your seats for ICC Champions Trophy fixtures in Cardiff