TRADITIONALISTS will doubtless be misty-eyed at the return of 50-over cricket today. After the teenage-rave antics across the Thames at The Oval, Lord’s can allow itself to luxuriate in the relative sedateness of a one-day international that spreads itself across eight hours rather than the three it takes to complete a Twenty20 match.

Whether this is a good thing is uncertain, because there is a feeling that 50-over cricket itself, as much as two teams in transition, will be on trial over the next seven days as England and West Indies meet in three matches for the NatWest Series.

While Twenty20 cricket is undeniably on the march, the conventional one-day format is in grave danger of looking tired and overblown. The all-too-predictable period between the 15th and 40th overs of a 50-over innings may meet with the approval of ageing MCC members who favour an afternoon nap, but it has been made to look an increasingly unnecessary encumbrance by the breathless pace of Twenty20. How much longer will people tolerate it?

The World Cup did the 50-over game no favours. The International Cricket Council acknowledged that it was too long when it announced that the tournament would be cut from 47 days to 35 in 2011.

More worryingly, it produced too few good contests. It seems that the odds of attending an exciting 50-over match are about one in eight, while the odds of seeing an exciting 20-over match are better than one in two. No wonder the ICC is raising the maximum number of Twenty20 internationals teams can play in a year from three to seven.

Today’s match will be England’s first full ODI under Peter Moores. Given the widespread calls for them to improve their one-day cricket (including from the Schofield review) it marks the start of a significant chapter. In a sense, Moores will be judged as much by his ability to improve ODI results as to maintain success in the Test arena.

Rain prevented England practising outside yesterday, but Ian Bell, who has been carrying a groin strain, came through an indoor net session and may come in for Jonathan Trott.

In the absence of Andrew Flintoff, his best all-rounder, perhaps the trickiest strategic decision facing Moores is whom to play at seven and eight. It is essential that these positions are filled by allrounders: men who can bat, because they may well be required to see the team home in a tight finish, but who can also keep wicket or complete a full quota of 10 overs with the ball.

Although many candidates have been tried at No 8 in recent years, few have satisfactorily met the demands. Ashley Giles was one who did – he helped England steal a tie from there against Australia at Lord’s in 2005 – and Paul Nixon proved dangerous from that position during the World Cup. Now, assuming that Matt Prior will open (which may depend on how juicy the pitch is after the rain) and Dimitri Mascarenhas stays at seven, the choice seems to be between Michael Yardy, a much better batsman but worse bowler than the specialist spinner, Monty Panesar, and the best batsman among the bowlers, Liam Plunkett.

England will not underestimate West Indies after the Twenty20 games, but 20-over cricket is the perfect format for this current West Indian lineup: it gives them licence to do what they do best – ignore the tiresome business of playing themselves in and thrash the ball from the start. They often find conventional one-day cricket too long; in nine of their past 23 ODIs they were dismissed inside 50 overs.

TV match

England v West Indies Today, Sky Sports 1, 10.30am

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