Key events
5th over: England 38-0 (Beaumont 18, Jones 18) Jahzara Claxton replaces James and starts with a leg-side wide. Beaumont threads another beautiful drive between extra cover and mid-off, then pulls a long hope for four more. West Indies are really struggling here.
4th over: England 26-0 (Beaumont 10, Jones 15) A sharp delivery from Fraser almost gets through Jones, who is able to deflect it onto the pad. When Fraser gets it right she looks a proper bowler; her problem at this stage is consistency. That’s a good second over, with just one run off the bat – and that came from a misfield.
3rd over: England 24-0 (Beaumont 10, Jones 14) Another boundary for Amy Jones, clipped crisply through midwicket off James. England are off to a flyer.
2nd over: England 17-0 (Beaumont 9, Jones 8) Cherry-Ann Fraser, West Indies’ right-arm quick, shares the new ball. A couple of half-volleys are driven for four by Beaumont, the first through the covers and the second timed beautifully past extra cover.
I don’t love saying this – and I hope I’m eating it in a few hours’ time – but West Indies already look a beaten side.
1st over: England 9-0 (Beaumont 1, Jones 8) The consensus in the commentary box is that this is an extremely good day for batting, and that England should be looking for at least 350. Amy Jones gets them off to a good start with a couple of boundaries off James. The first was a total freebie, the second clipped nicely off the pads.
The players are ready for action in Leicester. Zaida James is going to open the bowling with her left-arm spin.
It’s nine years since Mike Selvey left The Guardian. I could prattle on for hours about what a giant of a human being he is, how enthusiastic and helpful he was towards the OBO when many people looked down their nose at us, how many brilliant stories he has and why he should write a bloody book, Selve.
That’s for another day. This is a quick note to wish Selve and everyone at Olney CC – including Young Selve – all the best for their 150th anniversary match this afternoon. They’re playing an MCC side that apparently includes our buddy Adam Collins.
Olney is known for the world’s oldest pancake race and the hymn Amazing Grace, which was written there by the Reverend John Newton. If you fancy an afternoon in the sun* watching cricket with good people and at least one giant of a human being, get down to the Recreation Ground.
In fact, there’s a livestream here too. If it rains in Leicester, we’ll pop over to Olney.
* It’s a little brisk
Team news: Matthews injured
West Indies’ representative at the toss was Shemaine Campbell, who standing in as captain because of a shoulder injury to Hayley Matthews. That’s a big blow – to both teams. So is the absence of Matthews’ opening partner Qiana Joseph.
Realeanna Grimmond comes into the side and will open alongside Zaida James. Stafanie Taylor and Jannillea Glasgow are also included; Mandy Mangru drops out.
England have made two changes, with Alice Davidson-Richards and Lauren Filer replacing Charlie Dean and Em Arlott. Nat Sciver-Brunt says they are keen to look at the whole squad ahead of the World Cup.
England Beaumont, Jones (wk), Lamb, Sciver-Brunt (c), Dunkley, Capsey, Davidson-Richards, Cross, Smith, Filer, Bell.
West Indies Grimmond, James, Campbelle (c/wk), Taylor, Gajnabi, Glasgow, Alleyne, Claxton, Fraser, Fletcher, Ramharack.
England win the toss and bat
“Looks a good surface,” says NSB, “and as a team we’d like to challenge ourselves to repeat a good batting performance the other day.”
It’s a blustery day in Leicester, more than a little brisk, but the forecast is dry so we should start on time.
Preamble
Another day, another England v West Indies fixture. This is their eighth game in 15 days across formats and genders – pity the fool who signed up to cover the lot, eh – and so far England have won them all.
If that run continues in Leicester today, Nat Sciver-Brunt and Charlotte Edwards clinch their second series win as England captain and coach. They won’t be getting carried away – this is a weakened West Indies side, and England usually hammer them in bilateral series anyway.
Nasser Hussain made an excellent point on the Sky Cricket podcast that, if England want to become the best in the world, they should assess their performance against the remarkable Hayley Matthews rather than the rest of the West Indies team.
Matthews has scored 44 per cent of West Indies’ runs across the two white-ball series, with innings of 100*, 6, 71 and 48. Two of her dismissals have been at the hands of Em Arlott, who has caught the eye in an impressive debut series.
So has Linsey Smith, a semi-regular in the T20 side who took a five-for on her ODI debut on Sunday. And Amy Jones, pushed back up to open in the ODI team, started with a lovely century at Derby.
It’s those fresh details, rather than the fairly predictable results, that have made it all worthwhile.
The match starts at 1pm.
