Australia VS West Indies ODI Series starts today!

On the back of a tour from Sri Lanka, a third nation for the summer comes to Australia, this time - the West Indies for a limited over series. The teams will play in 5 ODI matches, as well a one-off T20 International.

Both sides have had indifferent ODI form over recent months. Australia drew 2-2 with Sri Lanka and were lucky not to go down 3-1 in Sydney in the 4th match. With constant shuffling of players it was hard to gain a solid team chemistry. That is not going to improve much in these matches with reports that several players will be flown to India midway through the series. This could include Phil Hughes, David Warner (who is actually injured at the moment), Mitchell Starc and wicket-keeper David Warner. Meanwhile for the West Indies their last ODI series was against Bangladesh which they lost 3-2. They will want to perform to a better standard against the Australians, as otherwise they might find themselves in some trouble. Australia is currently ranked 3rd in ODI cricket, while the West Indies languish in 7th. Many media commentators have been mentioning West Indies' T20 World Cup win as a limited overs formstick, but so far the Windies' T20 form has yet to translate to the 50 over game.

These two sides actually played each other in a bilateral ODI series only last year in the West Indies. The series was closely fought and ended up being drawn 2-2. Nonetheless the previous time they played in Australia was in February 2010 where Australia won 4-0. West Indies would hope to put a good fight in this series and should be aiming to win. Meanwhile the aussies will be looking to show some much needed consistency which was lacking in the previous series against Sri Lanka.

Interest in this series is hard to find though in Australia, with most eyes looking ahead to the India tour. It seems that these West Indies matches have just been tacked on to a summer for no apparent reason. The local broadcaster Channel 9 have been trying to drum up interest with advertisements highlighting the West Indies of 'old' mentioning names such as Lara, Holding and Ambrose. To be honest it really is a desperate plea to the public. Hopefully though some good crowds can come out to these matches, with the 3rd match in Canberra to be special, with it being the first time the Australian cricket team has played an international cricket match in the nation's capital. The redeveloped Manuka Oval should look awesome under the new floodlights.

Squads:

Australia (ODI 1-2): Clarke (c), Bailey, Cutting, Doherty, Faulkner, Finch, Hughes, Johnson, Khawaja, McKay, Maxwell, Starc, Wade

West Indies: Sammy (c), Dwayne Bravo (vc), Best, Darren Bravo, Charles, Deonarine, Gayle, Holder, Narine, Pollard, Powell, Roach, Russell, Sarwan, Thomas

Special mention has to go to Ramnaresh Sarwan who has been recalled to the West Indies team after an absence of 19 months. He gets his opportunity after the unfortunate injury to Marlon Samuels in the Big Bash League. For Australia Warner is out of the first two matches after injuring his hand, which means Usman Khawaja gets another chance to cement his spot. David Hussey it out, while James Faulkner gets his chance after an impressive showing for the PM's XI a couple of days ago.

Fixtures:
Friday 1st February: ODI #1 @ WACA, Perth
Sunday 3rd Feburary: ODI #2 @ WACA, Perth
Wednesday 6th February: ODI #3 @ Manuka Oval, Canberra
Friday 8th February: ODI #4 @ SCG, Sydney
Sunday 10th February: ODI #5 @ MCG, Melbourne