England v West Indies, Third Test: TV times, streaming, weather, team news, odds and more

The Cricketer runs down the who, what, where, when, why, how much, which channel and how wet will it be for the first match of this unusual series...

What is it?

England will host West Indies in the final Test of their three-match series, with the Wisden Trophy on the line.

When is it?

The third Test will begin on July 24 at 11am (BST).

Where is it?

The game will take place at Emirates Old Trafford, having also hosted the second Test, which was won by England. The first Test took place at the Ageas Bowl, but West Indies spent their quarantine period and pre-series preparations in Manchester.

Who’s playing?

England’s main issue is a positive dilemma of sorts: quite simply, who slots into the bowling attack? It is a saturated group, with each candidate full of merit. Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes, Sam Curran and Ben Stokes made up the seam options in the second Test, all performing beautifully in-tow.

However, Jofra Archer is available once more after missing the last game due to his protocol breach. James Anderson, too, sat out the win at a ground where one stand bears his name. Both will be desperate to return, as will Mark Wood, who is fit and bowling quickly, even if he wasn’t hugely potent in Southampton. Ollie Robinson, included in the squad last week but not picked in the playing side, will likely miss out once more.

All this, of course, assuming that Ben Stokes is fit. He would have every right not to be after his superhuman efforts with bat, ball and in the field.

Jos Buttler is expected to keep his place despite his struggles with the bat in red-ball cricket continuing into this series, while Dom Bess is the spinner in possession and deserves his prolonged opportunity.

^{Shai Hope has struggled in Test cricket for some time}

For West Indies, there are decisions to be made. There appears to be a keenness to continue with the main seam attack, given the inexperience of those beyond the main squad, but also because of how well Shannon Gabriel, Kemar Roach, Alzarri Joseph and Jason Holder have bowled as a collective.

Where that could change is with Rahkeem Cornwall; having seen the Emirates Old Trafford surface spin from early on the first day in the second Test, the temptation will be there to throw him in against a line-up that has already shown itself to be unsure against Roston Chase.

At the top of the order, however, is where the real questions are being asked. John Campbell and Shai Hope are both under the microscope, with neither having performed since the series started.

Joshua da Silva and Shayne Moseley, both of whom scored runs in the intra-squad warmup matches, could come in.

What’s the weather forecast?

Well, it’s not the best. It has improved in recent days to the point that we can expect a decent first day’s play, but the forecast for Saturday is for heavy persistent rain, while Sunday also looks as though it could be interrupted by the elements. Fingers crossed…

How can I watch, listen to and stream the game?

The game will be broadcast live in the UK on Sky Sports Cricket and Sky Sports Main Event from 10.30am BST on Wednesday.

Sky Sports Main Event is a subscription service available on channel 401 on Sky, channel 402 and channel 437 (HD) on BT TV, channel 401 on TalkTalk TV, and channels 501 (HD) and 401 on Virgin Media.

Sky also offer a streaming service - Sky Go - for subscribers.

The game will be covered by BBC Test Match Special on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra (digital radio, digital satellite channel 0144, Freeview channel 706, cable TV channels 864 or 908) and BBC Radio 4 (194 long wave, digital satellite channel 0143).

The Cricketer's social media channels will have updates throughout the day, with reaction to follow via our website after play has concluded.

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