Key events
2nd over: England 13-0 (Smith 9, Duckett 4) Jayden Seales starts with a very low full toss, possibly accidental, that hits Smith on the foot as he whips across the line. West Indies go up for LBW but it would have missed leg stump.
Smith is dropped two balls later, a very tough diving chance to Greaves at second slip, and then there’s an LBW review when he misses a clip across the line. It looks a poor review to the naked eye, and even worse on UltraEdge. Missing leg by a distance.
A tricky over for Smith ends on a positive note with a flowing extra cover drive to the fence.
“Exciting times,” says Tom Van der Gucht. “I’m a big fan of Brook and live in the village he hails from where the local butchers (Spauls) makes a speciality sausage called the Burley Banger. That feels like a suitable nickname for our new captain. He seems like one of the good guys – I’m pretty sure I spotted him a few weeks ago in the village nets doing some throw downs for a local lad.”
1st over: England 5-0 (Smith 1, Duckett 4) Ben Duckett leaves his first ball, a Halley’s Comet moment that elicits chuckles from Nasser Hussain and Eoin Morgan chuckling in the Sky box. He’s then beaten either side of a typical punch through extra cover for four.
Matt Forde, a tricky little nibbler who should do well in English conditions, will open the bowling.
Team news
West Indies are without Sherfane Rutherford and Romario Shepherd, who are still at the IPL. The teenager Jewel Andrew is a last-minute replacement for Evin Lewis.
England Smith, Duckett, Root, Brook (c), Buttler (wk), Bethell, Jacks, J Overton, Carse, Rashid, Mahmood.
West Indies King, Greaves, Carty, Hope (c/wk), Jangoo, Chase, Andrew, Forde, A Joseph Motie, Seales.
Ali Martin’s series preview
West Indies win the toss and bowl
It’s a very windy afternoon in Birmingham; Harry Brook isn’t asked what he’s have done.
England named their team yesterday, with Jamie Smith getting first crack as Ben Duckett’s opening partner. Will Jacks at No7 is an interesting choice. It feels odd to see him so low but England desperately need a reliable death-hitter so it’s worth a try.
England XI Duckett, Smith, Root, Brook (c), Buttler (wk), Bethell, Jacks, J Overton, Carse, Rashid, Mahmood.
Preamble
It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day. Harry Brook’s reign as England’s white-ball captain begins with a three-match ODI series against West Indies, starting today at Edgbaston. The start of a new era is inevitably the main focus, but we shouldn’t lose sight of the C-word: context.
England’s one-day form has been sufficiently miserable that they are eighth in the ICC rankings, three points above West Indies. Only the top eight will qualify automatically for the next World cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia at the end of 2027.
There’s still a fair way to go – the cutoff point is March of that year – but England need to get their white balls in a row sooner rather than later. Today would be a perfect time to start.
The match starts at 1pm.
