England should edge one-day series

As far as I can see, the only good thing about the forthcoming one-day series between England and West Indies is that there are only three matches. However, England will want to maintain the momentum from their Test series win and West Indies will be out to bounce back, so there is a little more to play for than normal.

England, as most people know, are a pretty shoddy one-day side, at best inconsistent and at worst woeful and clueless. West Indies are without doubt better at one-day cricket than they are in Tests these days, so on paper it ought to be close.

After the withdrawal through injury of Kevin Pietersen, bet365 make England 4/6 favourites to win the series, while West Indies are 6/5. A 2-1 win for England is the favourite in the correct score market, at 7/5, while it's 15/8 that West Indies win by the same margin. England are 3/1 to win all three games and it's 7/1 that West Indies win it 3-0.

With the Ashes just around the corner, England do not want to let slip the momentum that they are beginning to build as a Test team, but to be quite honest, I don't think it will mattter much to them, in the long run, were they to lose this 3-0. The team is quite different from the Test XI and England have yet to master the game, despite having played it for as long as anyone.

Some of the players coming into the side could, though, make a name for themselves and much is expected from Eoin Morgan, Middlesex's Ireland-born all-rounder. He could even force himself into the Test squad with some good showings, so there is something to play for beyond the pure results.

With their captain Chris Gayle opening, West Indies have the advantage at the top of the order, even more so if Matt Prior is injured. England have still - amazingly - not managed to realise that the way to score big in one-day cricket is to score fast at the top and go from there, and if Prior does not play, they will be even worse.

Gayle, on the other hand, is well capable of winning matches on his own, and it was interesting to hear Nasser Hussain say this week that you have to accept the fact that Gayle will probably win one match on his own.

Top bat
Gayle is the obvious favourite to be West Indies' top runscorer, at 9/4, and that's a fair price. He might fail twice but he's likely to get a hundred in the other, so he deserves to be at the top.

Bet365 make Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul both 11/4, while Lendl Simmon is 7/1 and Dwayne Bravo 8/1, with Runako Morton 12/1.

For England, captain Andrew Strauss is the new favourite at 10/3 and Ravi Bopara 4/1. Owais Shah, who has a point to prove after missing out on a Test place, is next at 5/1, while Ian Bell, another pushing for a Test recall, is 6/1 and Paul Collingwood is 8/1.

Ball-bearers
James Anderson, after a cracking Test series, looks the obvious favourite to take the most one-day wickets, and bet365 agree, making him 21/10, just ahead of the hugely impressive Stuart Broad, at 5/2.

Ryan Sidebottom is 10/3, Graeme Swann is 5/1 - but spinners never top the wicket tally in one-dayers, at least no one who's not called Shane Warne - and Tim Bresnan is 15/2.

For West Indies, Fidel Edwards is 2/1 favourite, just ahead of Jerome Taylor, a 3/1 chance. Dwayne Bravo has to have a chance at 4/1, Sulieman Benn is 5/1 and Darren Sammy is 6/1.

Despite their one-day inadequacies, I still think England should win this series, so 8/13 is not a bad price. And if you had to go for a correct score, I'd say 2-1.