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England v West Indies series preview and free betting tips
Richard Mann takes a closer at England's Test series with the West Indies which gets underway in Southampton on Wednesday - check out his best bets here.
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3pts Ollie Pope top England series batsman at 5/1
International cricket finally returns on Wednesday as England kick off their three-match Test series with the West Indies at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton.
Thereafter, hostilities will move to Manchester where the final two behind-closed-doors Tests will be played back-to-back at Old Trafford. An unprecedented schedule for unprecedented times and, as such, striking a bet in the series bowler markets will require more creative thinking than might usually be the case.
Three Tests crammed into little over three weeks means the likelihood of squad rotation is almost impossible to avoid, particularly in the case of England who will be wary that both James Anderson and Jofra Archer are returning from injury setbacks while Mark Wood, though fully fit, must be handled with care if he is to avoid breaking down once more.
As passionately argued in my series talking points here, I'm still convinced that a fully fit Anderson is one of England's first picks and in his last international appearance - his 151st Test match - the 37-year-old bowled with good pace and all of his old skill to record match figures of 7-63 before injury stuck again as England pushed for victory in Cape Town.
An extended break since might well prove to be a blessing for Anderson as he looks to extend his record-breaking career to the 2021/2022 Ashes series Down Under but more immediately, England will be keen not to take too many risks with one of their most valued assets and I suspect he will line up in Southampton and in only one of the two Old Trafford Tests.
As such, it would be a brave man to take anything around the 2/1 mark about Anderson finishing the series as England's leading series wicket-taker.
The same can be said for Archer and Wood, for all their prices at least offer more juice, and of the seamers, Stuart Broad might represent the best value given he has been free from injury for a while now and didn't miss a Test in last summer's Ashes series.
Nevertheless, 7/2 for Broad hardly represents a generous gift too great to ignore, and I wonder if Dom Bess might be the play here, albeit to small stakes, at 9/1.
After Moeen Ali opted to take a break from Test cricket following a disastrous start to last year's Ashes, and Jack Leach played no part in the series win in South Africa, Bess ended the winter as the man in possession of the England spin bowling spot having picked up a crucial five-wicket haul in the Third Test victory over South Africa in Port Elizabeth.
Bess is far from the finished article but what he showed in South Africa is that he is capable of fulfilling a role that Ali hasn't been able to do: control the scoreboard in the first innings while England's impressive and varied battery of pace bowlers attack from the opposite end.
It was a role that Graeme Swann performed with distinction for England for so many years and in finishing with first innings figures of 31-12-51-5 in that aforementioned match, Bess had provided England with a welcome reminder of the past, while also offering hope for the future.
As an attacking weapon, particularly in the second innings, Bess still has much to learn but in spinners' terms, the 22-year-old is still a relative rookie and England must persist with him as opposed to quickly retreating back to Ali whose woeful record against Australia with bat and ball will surely count against him in any long-term planning - for the Test team at least.
That is not to say Ali's Test career should be over; he remains a dangerous second-innings spinner and a classy middle-order batsman who will prove an invaluable asset on future tours of the subcontinent but for now, when England only require one frontline spinner, Bess is the man in which to invest.
He comfortably outbowled Ali and Jack Leach in the recent intra-squad warm-up match and in the hope England's selectors see it as I do, and want to give Bess as much exposure as possible this summer, I would be hopeful he will feature in all three Tests.
The Rose Bowl certainly spun when England beat India at this venue in 2018 while Old Trafford has been a happy hunting ground for slow bowlers over the years, and for all the recent wet spell and lack of domestic cricket means predicting conditions is harder than in previous years, I'm willing to take the chance at 9/1 that Bess can take another big leap forward in his development in the coming weeks.
In the same market for the West Indies, Kemar Roach is the standout and the 2/1 on offer is worth taking, even if three back-to-back Tests will demand a lot of the Bajan.
Much like his opposite number, Anderson, Roach has evolved from a tearaway young quick who shot to prominence when going where no man had gone before - roughing up Ricky Ponting with the short ball - before dropping his pace slightly, broadening his skills and becoming one of the most accurate and reliable seam bowlers in world cricket.
When England toured the Caribbean in early 2019, Roach tormented England's top order on the way to collecting 18 wickets at an average of 13.88 while when the West Indies were beaten 2-1 in England back in 2017, Roach was again the pick of the away attack as he picked up 11 scalps at under 30.
In truth, Roach bowled much better than his figures would suggest on that tour and the threat he posed to the left-handers in particular will ensure the likes of Rory Burns and Ben Stokes are on their guard in the coming weeks.
Just as was the case with Pat Cummins last summer, I suspect West Indies captain Jason Holder will be desperate for Roach to play all three matches of the series, something that might not be possible for the more fragile Shannon Gabriel who appears to have forced his way in the starting XI for the Rose Bowl with a strong showing in the West Indies' recent intra-squad match.
Holder, too, is likely to target all three Tests but he has been struggling with an ankle niggle of late and just as in 2017, Roach might find himself fighting a lone battle against the England batsman. Take the 2/1 for him to finish the series as the West Indies' leading wicket-taker once again.
In trying to save the best till last, I'll finish by tipping Ollie Pope for top England series batsman honours at 5/1, my confidence further enhanced by news that Joe Root will miss the First Test in order to attend the birth of his second child.
In truth, with or without Root lining up for the series opener, I would have made Pope the bet of the series and while the odds compilers are waking up to the fact that the Surrey man is England's best batting prospect since Root himself broke into the side, 5/1 is still worth taking.
Last winter was a breakthrough few months for Pope, one which saw him register his first Test hundred with a wonderful unbeaten 135 in Port Elizabeth.
Pope would add a couple of half-centuries by the time that series was complete - eventually finishing with 266 runs from three matches at an average of 88.66 - and had sickness not have ruled him out of the series opener, I'm almost certain he would have topped England run charts.
While a tendency to push hard at the ball outside his off stump held Pope back in his first taste of international cricket, he has returned a much more complete player and with a strong domestic record and history of making big hundreds behind him.
In the modern world of T20 cricket and the demand for high strike-rates, Pope is almost a throwback to the traditional art of Test match batting but with just enough new world in him to score all around the wicket and quickly when required.
That was in evidence when he played some wonderful hands with the lower in South Africa and for a slight figure, he certainly packs a punch. Batting at number six remains the best fit for him, for all there will be inevitable calls for him to move up the number three in time, and he can continue to prove the perfect foil for the likes of Root, Stokes and Jos Buttler.
Such has been the level of development in his batting, Stokes must always come under consideration in this market but the burden of captaincy, even if only in Southampton, and the threat Roach is sure to pose to England's left-handers, only strengthens the case for Pope.
Pope was 10/1 to be England's top runscorer in South Africa and while taking half that price only a few months later might feel slightly galling, the progress he has made in the ensuing few months is great and I'm banking on there being plenty more to come.
Posted at 1030 BST on 06/07/20
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