The Big Picture
This is an odd one-day series, squeezed in before the World Twenty20 to comply with FTP requirements (the Tests are held next year), but it is possible to see value in the contests for both sides - not least because there is a 50-over World Cup in a year. England's recent travails need little repeating, and this brief tour is a chance for bonding and revival ahead of Bangladesh, while West Indies can look to build on the relative success of a shared series in New Zealand when the odds were stacked against them.
Both teams have said they will approach the matches as one-day internationals, rather than elongated practice for the Twenty20s - a three-match T20 series follows in Barbados - but that is perhaps slightly truer of West Indies than England. The hosts can have the flexibility of picking their bespoke squads, which includes putting the captaincy in Dwayne Bravo's hands rather than Darren Sammy's, but England have engineered their squad with the focus on the T20s to follow.Team news
With no Gayle, Smith will likely open the batting as he did against Ireland where he scored a brisk half-century. West Indies could well be tempted to take the pace off the ball against the England line-up.
West Indies (possible) 1 Dwayne Smith, 2 Kieron Powell, 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Kirk Edwards, 5 Marlon Samuels, 6 Dwayne Bravo (capt), 7 Darren Sammy, 8 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 9 Sunil Narine, 10 Jason Holder, 11 Nikita Miller
England (possible) 1 Alex Hales, 2 Luke Wright, 3 Ben Stokes, 4 Joe Root, 5 Eoin Morgan, 6 Ravi Bopara, 7 Jos Buttler (wk), 8 Tim Bresnan, 9 Stuart Broad (capt), 10 Chris Jordan, 11 James Tredwell.
Pitch and conditions
Expect the ball to be going through knee height, rather than chest height. That, with a few exceptions, is the way these days in the Caribbean. The forecast suggests a chance of rain, but nothing that looks terminal.
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