The rains relent at last

England's one-day series in the Caribbean is finally set to resume, after the rains that have blighted the region for a fortnight relented to allow this afternoon's fifth match in St Lucia to get underway as planned.

Only 16 overs have been possible in the three matches since England's victory in the opening fixture in Guyana, which was itself reduced to a 30-overs-a-side affair. But with the weather set fair for this weekend, there is at last the prospect of a meaningful contest.

"People talk as if we haven't played for six months," Michael Vaughan, England's captain, told the BBC. "Two weeks out shouldn't really affect international pro cricketers - you've got to be mentally switched on and make sure you can react to the situation you get put in."

"Not playing and seeing the rain, there is a huge boredom factor," he added. "But we are 1-0 up, and will treat these next three games as a three-match series, make sure we try and win those and take another trophy home."

England have a full 16-man squad to choose from, with the possible exception of Ashley Giles, who sustained a thigh injury during practice. Even Paul Collingwood, who was reduced to head-butting steel posts in his boredom, is available for selection despite his broken nose.

West Indies are expected to field an unchanged side, and the two-week break can only have improved their prospects, now that Brian Lara is fully recovered from his finger injury. The allrounder Ian Bradshaw could make his debut, after being included in the final 12.

"We've had an opportunity to work on areas we've faltered in - for instance, our overall fitness," said Lara. "The guys have been working very hard in the gym and on the track and trying to get that area of our game together. Now cricket is back and we've got to win all three matches to win the series. We're focused on that now."

"[England] are one up in a four-match series and we see every game now as a must-win situation," added Lara. "This is how we're looking at it. Every game is a final, we've got to win it and the guys are very clued onto that fact."

West Indies (probable) 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 3 Brian Lara (capt), 4 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 5 Ricardo Powell, 6 Dwayne Smith, 7 Ridley Jacobs, 8 Dwayne Bravo, 9 Mervyn Dillon, 10 Ravi Rampaul, 11 Corey Collymore.

England (probable) 1 Michael Vaughan (capt), 2 Marcus Trescothick, 3 Andrew Strauss, 4 Paul Collingwood, 5 Andrew Flintoff, 6 Rikki Clarke, 7 Ian Blackwell, 8 Chris Read, 9 Darren Gough, 10 James Anderson, 11 Stephen Harmison.