Home advantage key for England

The Ashes may be two months away, but England get the chance to hone their game by playing West Indies in a two-Test series, starting at Lord's on Wednesday. And having lost to the West Indies in the Caribbean earlier this year, England will be intent on revenge.

West Indies edged England out when they were on home soil but England could and probably should have won that series, or at the very least drawn it. Taking on West Indies in England is a much more attractive proposition and I am slightly surprised that bet365 make the home side as long as 8/11 to win the series.

England's selectors appear to have announced their intentions by leaving out Ian Bell, Steve Harmison and former captain Michael Vaughan. Perhaps the trio could return for the Ashes, but if the new boys do well, they will find it awfully tough.

So England have put their faith in Ravi Bopara at No 3 and in Graham Onions and Tim Bresnan with the ball, so it will be fascinating to see if the selectors have the courage to stick with them when Australia come to town, especially if they do not shine against West Indies.

Bet365 make West Indies 5/1 and the drawn series. Now West Indies last won a Test series overseas (of note) in New Zealand in 1995. They have some talented players and are generally on the up, but they will find it very difficult to bowl England out twice in each Test.

That said, Lord's has been a punter's dream of late, with six successive draws there since 2005 when England beat Australia there. I have a feeling that might change this time, though, for West Indies may be a little underdone, especially their captain, Chris Gayle, who only arrives in the country on Monday.

England will be relying heavily on their top five for runs, though, since Matt Prior will bat at six, so we could see some low totals if they don't fire. Captain Andrew Strauss is in great form, though, and Kevin Pietersen is always likely to shine, so the talent is there.

With no Andrew Flintoff once more, the depth in batting is not what it would be, but his presence will be most missed with the ball, where Stuart Broad and James Anderson will shoulder much of the burden. Onions and Tremlett will probably compete for one place, while Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar could both play.

England have actually lost two of their past three home series, but they were to South Africa and India, both very strong sides, and before that, you have to go back to the Ashes of 2001 to find the last time they lost a Test series on home soil.

West Indies rely hugely on Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan and while they have huge talent, and in Chanderpaul's case, immense will power, I don't see them avoiding defeat in at least one of the matches.

With that in mind, I have to advise an England series win, as I said, at a generous-looking 8/11.

If you're looking for a correct score bet, a 1-0 win for England is the 7/4 favourite and that might be the most likely, especially early in the summer when the weather may intervene more than later on.

It's just 3/1 that England win both matches, 5/1 that it's a 1-1 draw, 9/2 that it's a total stalemate and then 11/2 that West Indies win 1-0 and 22/1 that they win both. That won't happen.