With just 100 days to go to the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup, Windies and England will begin their final countdown to the grand event when they square off in their opening match of the Colonial Medical Insurance Cup at the Kensington Oval in Barbados today from 9.30 am.
The Windies fresh from a series win in the Test aspect of the tour to claim the Wisden Trophy will be running out with their coloured clothing looking to impress just as much.
Skipper Jason Holder is back in the One-Day International (ODI) fray after missing the series in Bangladesh and will be looking to lead his charges well, as he did in the Wisden Test series.
The Windies will be looking to overturn their recent form against England in limited overs cricket, seeing that they have now lost their last nine matches to the "Poms". Holder has not been able to win a bilateral series in 11 attempts and this is something he would desperately want to address with the World Cup around the corner.
Holder will have in his ranks the "Universe Boss" in Chris Gayle, who has promised to go out with a bang. The Jamaican has made it clear that he intends to retire at the end of the World Cup, so he will be looking to get among the runs early to have a good season leading into the major event.
Holder speaking ahead of the clash said: "We have got to be clear on our bowling - England pack a heavy punch in their batting, they bat deep and are top-ranked for a reason. We have to be precise. The way ODI cricket has gone, 300-320 is par these days."
His opposite number in Eoin Morgan says he is not going to underestimate the Windies.
"We got beaten by Scotland last year and they are ranked lower than West Indies. Any side can be a threat on the day. West Indies are very strong at the moment and we're not taking them lightly," said Morgan.
England goes into this series as the number one ranked side in ODI and will be looking to continue its impressive run which has seen them win four of their last five matches.
The Windies, after winning one game and sharing another with India in India, was brought down to earth with heavy defeats against Bangladesh.
The venue is sold out for the clash and the pitch is expected to play through so runs are expected in generous amounts.
TEAMS
West Indies: Chris Gayle, John Campbell, Shai Hope (wk), Darren Bravo, Shimron Hetmyer, Nicholas Pooran, Jason Holder (capt), Fabian Allen, Devendra Bishoo, Ashley Nurse, Sheldon Cottrell, Oshane Thomas.
England: Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan (capt), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wk), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood.