England line up the knockout punch

The Wisden Trophy has gone already, the captain is under fire from all angles, and their opponents have a series whitewash in their sights. Things couldn't be much worse for West Indies right now. England, on the other hand, are floating like butterflies as they line up the knockout punch in Round 3 at Old Trafford tomorrow, where the series could be wrapped up.

England didn't play a Test at Old Trafford last year, and it seems that snub has stirred the hunger of the locals. According to Jim Cumbes, Lancashire's chief executive, only 2000 seats remain for tomorrow, and with the Lancashire lad, Andrew Flintoff, in the form of his life, Cumbes is licking his lips at the prospect of the largest crowd for the first day of an Old Trafford Test match since the 1997 Australian tourists. Needless to say Friday and Saturday are already sold out.

However, the only thing that could spoil the bumper crowd's fun is the weather. The ground was flooded yesterday morning, and both sides were forced to practise indoors. As a result of that, and Ashley Giles's transmogrification from wheelie-bin to wonder-boy, Gareth Batty, the offspinner, was yesterday released, and returned to play in Worcestershire's Championship match against Northants. The forecast for tomorrow is for rain in the morning, but then to clear for the rest of the day.

Even though Michael Vaughan and his men have the series firmly in their sights, there is still plenty to play for in the England camp, with new 12-month central contracts being handed out in September. As the team continues to win, the cash bonuses continue to rise. Hence the junior players, such as Robert Key, Andrew Strauss, Geraint Jones and James Anderson, will be keen to impress, while the elder statesmen, such as Graham Thorpe, won't want to let anyone take their place - just ask Mark Butcher.

"It is probably the most competitive squad I have played in," said Thorpe yesterday. "Any player would not want to get injured. Lots of players are performing in the knowledge that there are lots of individuals on the outside in their mid-twenties who are improving. I realise now if I pick up a bad injury it will most probably be the end of my international career, and that is why I approach the game the way I do."

Thorpe also highlighted the new-found optimism in the England camp, but stressed there was still work to be done. "We want to win the series 4-0, and then this could be a magical summer," he said. "If you keep winning you have to find something else as the challenge, and our challenge has to be to win all seven Tests in the season." But he added: "With the players West Indies still have, if they get that little sniff, they can get to 2-1, then go to the last match thinking they can get a draw. It is no time to be taking them lightly."

England are expected to name an unchanged side to the one which beat West Indies by 256 runs at Edgbaston, with the head-to-head between James Anderson and Simon Jones likely to go Anderson's way. If he is selected, it will be his first Test on his home ground.

West Indies are certain to make changes, with Fidel Edwards set to return after taking ten wickets in the rout of Derbyshire last week. He is likely to come in for Jermaine Lawson, who has been ruled out with a thigh strain. Omari Banks has been suffering from flu, and he may be replaced by Dave Mohammed, the left-arm chinaman bowler, who flew in as a replacement for the injured Tino Best during the second Test. Ridley Jacobs is also a doubt after he was forced to sit out training because of a sore knee.

Although the Champions Trophy is still a while away, the naming of the West Indies squad for it yesterday raised a few eyebrows. Jacobs might not be getting any younger, but it was something of a surprise that both he and his wicketkeeping understudy on this tour, Carlton Baugh, could both be overlooked in favour of Courtney Browne, 33, who hasn't played international cricket for three years - especially as Baugh biffed 150 against Derbyshire. The delay in naming the captain for the tournament also emphasised the uncertainty in West Indian cricket at the moment. England are aiming to deepen that uncertainty, starting tomorrow.

England (probable) 1 Marcus Trescothick, 2 Andrew Strauss, 3 Robert Key, 4 Michael Vaughan (capt), 5 Graham Thorpe, 6 Andrew Flintoff, 7 Geraint Jones (wk), 8 Ashley Giles, 9 Matthew Hoggard, 10 Stephen Harmison, 11 James Anderson.

West Indies (probable) 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Devon Smith, 3, Ramnaresh Sarwan, 4 Brian Lara (capt), 5 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 6 Dwayne Bravo, 7 Ridley Jacobs (wk), 8 Omari Banks, 9 Pedro Collins, 10 Corey Collymore, 11 Fidel Edwards.