England head to the West Indies looking to put a dismal Ashes series behind them and prove to the world that they’re headed in the right direction in the red-ball game.
Having suffered a brutal 4-0 thrashing at the hands of a relentless Australia side over the winter, the ECB felt compelled to act and subsequently cleaned house in the Test set-up - with head coach Chris Silverwood and men’s director of cricket Ashley Giles both out the door.
Paul Collingwood has taken on the temporary role of coach, Sir Andrew Strauss is the new managing director but Joe Root is still captain - in no small part thanks to a lack of viable alternatives - and England’s talisman has promoted himself to No 3 to desperately try and plug a gaping hole in a top order that has failed to truly convince in Test match cricket for about a decade.
The West Indies has not been a happy hunting for England historically - the 2003-04 tour is their lone series victory in the Caribbean for the past 50 years - but this is a far from vintage Windies side and they have faced plenty of red-ball issues of their own in recent times, highlighted by a comprehensive beating at the hands of Sri Lanka last time out.
There’s no Stuart Broad or James Anderson as the iconic seam pair have been dropped, while Haseeb Hameed, Rory Burns and Dawid Malan have been similarly axed, with fresh faces including Alex Lees, Ben Foakes, Craig Overton and Saqib Mahmood all drafted in to try and solve some of the issues across the three-match series.
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the first Test.
When is the game?
The five-day Test match will run from Tuesday, 8 March to Saturday, 12 March at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua. Play is scheduled to start at 2pm GMT each day and finish at around 9pm or 10pm GMT.
Where can I watch it?
The game will be live on BT Sport 1 for the first four days, with the fifth day’s play - should it be needed - live on BT Sport 2. BT Sport subscribers can also stream the match live via the BT Sport website and app, while England Cricket and BBC Sport will show short highlights of the day’s play.
Odds
West Indies - 7/4
Draw - 7/2
England - Evens
Prediction
Two teams who have had their red-ball struggles in recent times, neither of whom you can really trust to consistently perform. England will be desperate for a response after the diabolical Ashes performance and although they have historically floundered in the Caribbean, this new-look team and coaching staff can break that trend. England to record a narrow victory, late on day four or early on day five.
