Live Cricket World Cup: Australia versus West Indies

Some news from our reporter on the ground in Nottingham, Jon Pierik:

The one-time exhilarating, and sometimes bitter, Test rivalry between Australia and the West Indies is hanging by a thread, for there will have been more than six years between series by the time the two nations clash again in 2022-23.

Under the new future tours program and Test championship, beginning this year and running until the end of 2022-23, Australia have next to nothing to do with the West Indies in terms of bilateral series and do not tour the island nations for a Test series.

There are a series of three Twenty20 internationals in Australia on the eve of next year's World Twenty20, a series of three one-day internationals and three Twenty20s in the Caribbean in June 2020, and only two Tests for the Sir Frank Worrell Trophy in Australia in late 2022.

That there are so few Tests is perhaps understandable, considering the last time the two nations met, in Australia in 2015-16, the home team cruised to a 2-0 series win, the third and final Test marred by rain.

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Aaron Finch: "I probably would have a bat first anyway. It looks quite dry. Hopefully later on it starts to spin a bit. No changes, same team."

Jason Holder called correctly at the coin toss. Aussie skipper Aaron Finch, interviewed pre-match, said Australia would have batted first anyway.

He's bound to be a big talking point against the might of Australia

The Cricket World Cup steps up a notch tonight when Australia clash with West Indies.