1st Test: West Indies v England at North Sound

Antigua, April 12: Ahead of their first Test against the West Indies on Monday, England's pacer Stuart Broad said he is backing skipper Alastair Cook to make as many runs as possible as he is looking refreshed and confident.

"I'd back him to score big runs in this series, he looks refreshed and ready to go," Broad was quoted as saying by dailymail.co.uk.

"He seems in a really happy place and excited to be back around the group. He'd be the last person to make too much of a fuss about a hundred in a warm-up game," he said.

ST JOHN’S, Antigua -- The government of Antigua and Barbuda has declared a half-day public holiday on Monday, when the West Indies will battle England in the first of the four Test matches to be played in the Caribbean.

The venue will be the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, and it will be the first Test match to be played in Antigua in seven years. Everyone is encouraged to attend and to participate in the fun and excitement. Both public and private employees have been granted the half-day off in order to attend.

Attorney General Steadroy ‘Cutie’ Benjamin, who chaired the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, indicated that he had been in touch with Prime Minister Gaston Browne, who is in Jamaica to attend a summit with the US president. The prime minister asked that Cabinet give favourable consideration to the half-day-off request. Unanimously, the Cabinet agreed to make Monday, April 13, 2015, a half-holiday in order to enable attendance by government and private-sector employees on Monday afternoon.

Minister of sports, culture and festivals, Chet Greene, reminded the Cabinet that after the cricket is ended on each night, there will be music and entertainment that will cause the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium to remain throbbing late into the night. He invited everyone to come join in the fun and excitement of cricket, and the after-cricket party at the Stadium.

Food vendors will be out in abundance, the Cabinet was told. Buses will also transport vacationing students from the various communities around Antigua to the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium. Prices to enter will be nominal because of the monetary and other support by the government to the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB). All senior citizens who are 65 years and older will enter the Stadium without charge.

All the support required, in order to make certain that Antigua continues to be regarded as the most exciting and wonderful place in the world to view Test Cricket, has been put in place, Greene assured the Cabinet.

“It will be exciting, engaging and electrifying,” Greene said of the coming test match and venue.

The West Indies Team is usually buoyed by the supporting audience, despite the fact that thousands of Britons will be flying into Antigua, staying at many hotels and other properties, beginning this week, in order to watch the England team battle the West Indies.