England need to tame Windies batsmen

England must find a way to tame the regiment of big-hitters West Indies have assembled for the NatWest Series.

The first of three one-day internationals was set to get under way at the Ageas Bowl this morning, many already contrasting the tourists' power-hitting capabilities with the more accumulative approach expected from England, but captain Alastair Cook begs to differ, however.

Not only does he believe his team have plenty of muscle of their own, but he notes Chris Gayle and several others might not find it as easy as some seem to believe to cart England's pace bowlers out of the ground. And he said: "We have got a powerful middle order ourselves, if you look at Eoin Morgan, Craig Kieswetter and Tim Bresnan."

He added: "Yes, they might not have the big names of the opposition - but they can hit the ball a long way."

Cook was expected to have Ian Bell alongside him to open the innings after all, despite the Warwickshire batsman's mishap in the indoor nets yesterday morning.

Bell went to hospital for stitches, and an x-ray on his jawbone, after edging an attempted pull up into his chin.

The impression by later yesterday was that Bell would be fit to begin his new role as replacement at the top of the order for Kevin Pietersen - following the latter's limited-overs retirement.

Cook, meanwhile, has been fine-tuning England's gameplans against the new ball and beyond.

"It's about winning games of cricket, and we've won the last five series at home - we're a tough team to beat in our conditions," he said. "Over the next week, I hope we can add to that record.

"We have a very good bowling attack - and it is going to be exciting to see the likes of Jimmy Anderson, Stuart Broad and Steven Finn bowling at these guys. It will be hard to hit them consistently."