Today at 8:30 a.m. ET the West Indies will face off with England for the first of three one-day internationals at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium from North Sound, Antigua in cricket action that can be live streamed free by clicking this link.
The English will be catching a bit of a break in Antigua, as the West Indies squad will be without superstar Chris Gayle because of an injury. England isn't unscathed either heading into this ODI, as their own premier batsman Kevin Pietersen, was dismissed as a sort of spark for a struggling squad.
Stuart Broad has assumed the captaincy vacated by Pietersen, and clearly thinks the loss of Gayle is a bigger deal in this matchup.
"We know what Chris Gayle offers. He can win a game on his own," said Broad. "I'm sure West Indies will be desperate to get him [Gayle] fit for the World Cup. I'm sure they won't risk him too much in the next few weeks. As an England side, you want to test yourself against the best players in the world, and Chris Gayle is one of those."
Pietersen being gone is a large leadership blow, especially since Broad's whole career has been spent with him at the reins. "I've played my whole international career with Kev ... and he's been part of one of the most successful eras of English cricket that there's ever been," Broad said.
"You look back to that 2010 World Cup in the Caribbean; he was the shining light of that tournament and, without him, we would not have won it - there's no doubt. But there are players in this changing room who have the same match-winning ability."
With Gayle absent, the West Indies team will look to the returning all-rounder Marlon Samuels to key the team as he's coming back from a wrist injury.
STARTING SQUADS
England: S Broad (Nottinghamshire-captain), E Morgan (Middlesex-vice captain), M Ali (Worcestershire), R Bopara (Essex), T Bresnan(Yorkshire), J Buttler (Lancashire), J Dernbach (Surrey), H Gurney (Nottinghamshire), A Hales (Nottinghamshire), C Jordan (Sussex), MLumb (Nottinghamshire), S Parry (Lancashire), J Root (Yorkshire), B Stokes (Durham), J Tredwell (Kent), L Wright (Sussex)
West Indies: A bit of a mixed bag from the Calypso Kings in this form of the game over the course of the last three months, starting with a narrow 2-1 loss in India last November, followed by a creditable 2-2 draw in New Zealand last month and then a one-off victory over Ireland on Sunday.
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