Are West Indies on course to seal 3-0 'blackwash'?

The loss of Jason Holder for the St Lucia Test, in the wake of his suspension for a slow over-rate in Antigua, has done little to prick the expectation that West Indies are on course to emulate their 1980s forebears, and wrap up a 3-0 "blackwash" over England.

The odds-setters at Bet365 still reckon that West Indies are favourites for the third Test, in spite of the loss of their captain and stand-out player - a man who rose to become the No.1-ranked allrounder in Test cricket after his double-century in Barbados and has also taken seven wickets at 17.85 in the series so far.

West Indies are 6/4 to seal the win in St Lucia, compared to England's 5/6. The draw, an outlandish prospect to judge by the stickability of England's batsmen in the series to date, is a distant 8/1.

It is also deemed to be Shai Hope's turn to make the difference with the bat, in a series in which he has shown glimpses of the form that earned him back-to-back hundreds in the Headingley victory in 2017, but which hasn't quite come together as yet.

Hope is 10/3 to be West Indies' leading run-scorer in St Lucia, with Darren Bravo - off the back of his painstakingly slow fifty in Antigua - tagging along behind him on 7/2.

England, for their part, are still looking to their skipper, Joe Root, to interject a touch of class. He has managed a ropey 40 runs in four innings to date, but was twice unlucky to be on the receiving end of brilliant bowling in the second Test - his first-innings dismissal was particularly unplayable.

Root is 11/4 to be England's top-scorer. The value, however, may lie in England's much-vaunted middle order. Jos Buttler (6/1), in particular, has shown signs of form, while Ben Foakes - if selected - is an attractive offer at 14/1.