1st Test, North Sound, Mar 8 - 12 2022, England tour of West Indies

tomorrow

Kemar Roach, West Indies’ veteran attack leader, believes that the “quite surprising” omissions of James Anderson and Stuart Broad from England’s Test plans give his side a slight advantage going into Tuesday’s first Test, but says that the wickets of Joe Root and Ben Stokes are his team’s truest route to victory in the coming weeks.

England seam bowler, Ollie Robinson, has been ruled out of the first Test against West Indies with a back injury.

Robinson, 28, left the field because of a back spasm on the third morning of England’s warm-up against a Cricket West Indies President’s XI in Antigua.

He did not return to bowl on the fourth and final day on Friday and will now miss the first Test in Antigua, which starts on Tuesday.

Saqib Mahmood has taken Robinson’s spot in a 12-man England squad.

The England XI for the first Test against West Indies.

Saqib Mahmood misses out from the XII named on Sunday, with Alex Lees making his Test debut.

Joe Root has won the toss and England will bat first

West Indies: 1 Kraigg Brathwaite (capt), 2 John Campbell, 3 Nkrumah Bonner, 4 Jermaine Blackwood, 5 Shamarh Brooks, 6 Jason Holder, 7 Joshua da Silva (wk), 8 Alzarri Joseph, 9 Kemar Roach, 10 Veerasammy Permaul, 11 Jayden Seales

England: 1 Alex Lees, 2 Zak Crawley, 3 Joe Root (capt), 4 Dan Lawrence, 5 Ben Stokes, 6 Jonny Bairstow, 7 Ben Foakes (wk), 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Craig Overton, 10 Mark Wood, 11 Jack Leach

After 5 overs and 1 wicket, Jason Holder is yet to concede a single run.

England 57 for 4 at lunch. It's not much of a new era, really. In fact, it's fractionally worse: at lunch on the first day at Brisbane, they were 59 for 4.

That final over before lunch was probably as good an over as I've seen from Joseph in a long time

1st Test: LUNCH, Day 1

England 57/4 (24)

Kemar Roach 31/2
Jason Holder 0/1
Jayden Seales 11/1

131/5