‘Out of form’ West Indies team under pressure against England
West Indies face England in a three-match one-day series starting Friday under pressure to reverse a run of poor form that could see them facing the indignity of having to qualify for the next World Cup in 2019.
The top eight teams in the International Cricket Council ODI rankings at the end of September 2017 automatically advance to the event in England. The West Indies -struggling in ninth spot three points behind Pakistan and a further two adrift of Bangladesh -- have only this series, a return duel in England in September and, critically, three matches against Pakistan in the Caribbean in April to make the cut.
England have no such concerns as hosts of both the World Cup and the next Champions Trophy in June, for which the West Indies failed to qualify.
England's brand of ultraaggressive limited-over cricket since the disappointment of the 2105 World Cup, where they failed to get past the group stage, makes them favourites to extend their domination of the home team.
West Indies' last victory in a head-to-head series was in 2007 in England under the leadership of Chris Gayle, one of several prominent players now ruled ineligible for regional representative duty due to commitments to lucrative T20 franchise tournaments around the world.
Both teams are coming off series losses, the West Indies failing to advance to the final of a three-nation tournament in Zimbabwe last November that also involved Sri Lanka, and England falling to India in January after being thrashed in the preceding Test series at the end of 2016.
Notwithstanding the favourites' tag, the English will also be wary of the conditions as well as the opposition following contrasting victories in two warm-up matches against what was effectively a West Indies second-string outfit in St Kitts.