This Will Be A Good Series - Dwayne Bravo

This Will Be A Good Series - Dwayne Bravo

Dwayne Bravo (left) and Brendan Taylor parade the ODI trophy in Grenada

©WICB Media

The West Indies are hoping for a large crowd to come out and support them as they play their first match in Grenada tonight since 2009, with the opening One-Day International against Zimbabwe.

A public holiday has been declared and the team is making its first home appearance since winning the ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka.

Dwayne Bravo leads the side and although Darren Sammy, Chris Gayle and Kieron Pollard will be missing, he says preparations for the series have been good.

bet365 make West Indies huge favourites at 1/12 to win the opening game with Zimbabwe available at 5/1.

"We have focused on what we have to do to win games for West Indies," he said. "We have young and exciting players in our team and we are looking forward to these matches.

I am happy to be captaining the West Indies team and I see it as an honour to do this job. I will bring the energy and will look to lead from the front and inspire the team to win," he added.

"We’re calling all the fans in Grenada to come out and enjoy three good matches as we look to play some good cricket and bring some entertainment to our supporters. We enjoy playing for our fans. We haven’t played here for a while so it’s good to be back and everyone is looking forward to what’s in store."

The last time Grenada hosted international cricket was in 2009, when Bangladesh visited for a Test series they would go on to win, in part helped by the West Indies being unable to pick their strongest team after contract talks broke down.

This time around, Gayle and Sammy are resting and Pollard may only miss the start of the series, giving Bravo another opportunity to lead the side. He knows that Zimbabwe are not to be taken lightly.

"This is a brand new series for us and we are playing at home. We are coming up against an opposition that is hungry for success and this will be a good series," Bravo predicted.

"It is good to be playing in front our home fans, who we know will support us. There is a Public Holiday on Friday and we expect a good turn-out. We just want to do our part, play well, be consistent and come out on top.

"We have to give respect to the Zimbabwe team. They are a good team. The last time they came here they were leading the ODI series at one stage and we had to fight back to defeat them. We have to remember that. They have some good players in their set-up."

The two sides will contest three One-Day Internationals, two Twenty20 Internationals and two Tests during the tour, which continues until late March.

© Cricket World 2013