Good news! The rain has passed over and the coin has been tossed. Nat Sciver-Brunt wins it and decides to have first use of the wicket. There are rumblings that the England XI will include a couple of debutants as Charlotte Edwards looks to shake up the ODI team. Gah! –Those clouds are hanging about and making a nuisance of themselves in Derby, we’ll have a bit of a delay to the toss and start time. More as we get it… In the meantime – why not have a read of Emma John’s piece on the globetrotting Sikander Raza: Hello and welcome to the OBO of the first ODI between England and West Indies from Derby. Charlotte Edwards and Nat Sciver-Brunt will be quietly content with how the early days of their reign as England Head Coach and Captain have gone with a 3-0 clean sweep of West Indies in the T20Is. There are grey clouds though, and not just the ones rolling in over the Peak District and looming over the county ground at Derby as we speak. Former captain Heather Knight is out for the entire summer with a hamstring injury that she sustained in the final T20I in Chelmsford on Monday, a real shame for her personally and England’s batting card is weakened without her class and experience in it. That last match also saw England slip into old and bad habits from the winter of discontent just gone as a series of catches were fluffed. Edwards has promised higher standards across the board and so all eyes on England’s fielding today, as well as their batting and bowling of course – which has been pretty good. The match starts at 1pm and the toss and teams are imminent. If you want to join in and offer thoughts, theories, pearls of wisdom or just to let me know your favourite condiment then hit the email link on the left.
Author: James Wallace (now) and Tanya Aldred (later)