England vs West Indies Prediction: Take the 13/5 on local boy Woakes for wickets

The Third Test starts on Friday July 26 with an 11am start (live on Sky Sports Cricket) at Edgbaston as England look for the clean sweep and Windies look to get one win on the board at the third time of asking.

James Pacheco is focusing just on the England players as regards his tips, with picks on the first innings top bat and top bowler markets. 

Cricket Odds

England

Both England players and fans will have been pleased that they were actually tested in the Second Test.

After posting a good first innings score thanks in part to an excellent century from Ollie Pope and good contributions from the likes of the two Bens - Duckett and Stokes – the Windies had an excellent second day and passed England’s first innings total.

In the end the Tourists folded in their fourth innings as England won easily but for most of the game it was an actual contest.

Jamie Smith has impressed with the gloves and the bat and Shoaib Bashir has shown there’s something about him, taking wickets and revealing some good variations. So those are two positives to take away from the series so far.

They’ve announced an unchanged side which means they’ve turned down the chance to blood fast bowler Dillon Pennington. Seems a bit strange to play the notoriously injury-prone Mark Wood in back-to-back matches when the Series is already won, but they’ll have their reasons for that.

Possible XI: Crawley, Duckett, Pope, Root, Brook, Stokes, Smith, Woakes, Atkinson, Bashir, Wood.

West Indies

It was a bit peculiar how well they handled themselves in the first innings and then fell apart at the seams (so to speak) in the second given the pitch didn’t deteriorate that much. You’re not going to win many Test matches when you’re excellent one day and poor the next.

Still, Kavem Hodge’s superb century should be applauded as should the stylish 82 from Alick Athanaze that was extremely pleasing on the eye in addition to being such a valid contribution in the context of the match. Hodge also took two wickets in the first innings, so it was a bit odd he didn’t get a bowl in the second.

If they’re going to improve for this game, they’ll need skipper Kraigg Brathwaite to kick on after scores of 48 and 47 at Trent Bridge. And they also need more from Jason Holder. He played well for his 37 in the second innings but as a senior player they’ll need some more consistency from him with both bat and ball.

Possible XI: Brathwaite, Louis, McKenzie, Athanaze, Hodge, Holder, da Silva, Alzarri Joseph, Shamar Joseph, Sinclair, Seales.

Pitch and conditions

The Edgbaston wicket held up nicely last year when Australia beat England here in a high-scoring match, where they chased 281 on Day 5.

Scores here in the County Championship this season suggest there might be big runs again. The lowest first innings score here was 298 while on one occasion, 698 was reached.

One possible angle is to go above the par line for first innings runs when the West Indies bat. On a flat one they can hold their own and with the exception of the scary pace of Wood, they’ll think they may not have too much to fear in this England attack, before the pitch starts to misbehave or Bashir starts to find turn later on in the game.

Match Winner Odds

The Windies went off at around 15.0 last time out and at one stage at the start of England’s second innings after Zak Crawley was run out, they were just 2/1 to go on and win the game. This time round the Tourists are ‘just’ 9.0 but it will take some brave punters to think they can actually get the job done.

Instead, we’ll recommend the same in-play advice as last time: if England reach 1/2 at any stage, that’s probably worth taking.

England Top Batsman

It was pretty frustrating to say the least to have tipped Ollie Pope at a big price to top score in the first innings of the First Test only for him to do the business in the Second Test with that superb first innings century.

But there are good reasons to hope that Pope can keep it up. In four innings so far he’s scored one century and two fifties and is the highest runscorer of the Series with 229 runs. Number three is a good place to bat here, as the man Pope has based his game on - Ian Bell- will know only too well from all his years scoring runs here at Edgbaston.

Above all, it’s a case of price. It’s hard to justify why all of Joe Root, Crawley and Duckett are slightly shorter than Pope’s 4/1.

Ollie Pope to be England First Innings Top Batsman @ 4/1

England Top Bowler

If we’re talking about knowing home conditions well, few will know them better than Chris Woakes. The new leader of England’s attack has spent his whole career at Warwickshire and taken plenty of wickets here over the years.

He took four wickets in the first innings at Trent Bridge and we suspect that once again, it’s the first time round that he could be at his most potent.

The other reason he’ll give you a good run for your money is that he’s likely to be the one bowling the most overs. In the two first innings so far, he bowled just one fewer than Gus Atkinson at Lord’s and more than anyone else at Trent Bridge.

Stokes doesn’t like bowling too many overs these days and Bashir has also been used sparingly in the first innings; so Woakes should have plenty of deliveries to go in search of wickets.

The Windies are ruthless on anything wide or full but it’s that Test match line-and-length that they struggle with, and few do it better than Woakes. At 13/5 he’s the joint-favourite with Atkinson, but he looks much the better bet.

Chris Woakes to be England Top Bowler @ 13/5

Cricket Betting Tips with Betfred Insights.