West Indies aiming to beat Anderson and Broad-less England

– 1st Test bowls off tomorrow

The West Indies have not lost a Test series at home against England since 2003-04. In England’s last visit to the Caribbean, back in 2019, West Indies won 2-1. For England, they are without James Anderson and Stuart Broad, two of their leading bowlers of all time.
The first of three Test matches will start tomorrow, Tuesday, March 8 in North Sound, Antigua, from 10:00h Eastern Caribbean time.
While West Indies are aware of the inexperienced England bowling line-up, the Caribbean team will believe that the Englishmen are a good unit. According to middle-order batsman Nkrumah Bonner, the West Indies will have the same approach as they have in every series, taking the opposition seriously.
“It’s a Test match, nevertheless, whether Anderson or Broad are playing. Obviously, they still have quality bowlers and the same application is required,” Bonner told members of the media on Saturday.

“In every series, it’s the same approach and this one will be no different,” Bonner added. “After coming from India, I played some four-day games in Barbados. I was able to spend some time at the crease and obviously, coming into this camp, I’ve done a lot of hard work as well, and I’m looking forward to playing against England. It will be an important series for us,” Bonner explained.
Meanwhile, West Indies seamer Kemar Roach was surprised at the omission of Broad and Anderson.

England name 12-man squad for first Test
Bowler Ollie Robinson has failed to recover from a back spasm and was left out of the 12-man squad announced by England on Sunday for the first Test against the West Indies, with uncapped seamer Saqib Mahmood stepping into the squad.
Robinson pulled up midway through an over during the warm-up match against a CWI President’s XI and was unable to take part in training on Sunday.
England were already unlikely to gamble on the 28-year-old’s fitness, but that settled the issue, allowing Mahmood to take his spot in the 12-man squad.
England’s 12-man squad comprise: Joe Root*, Jonny Bairstow, Zak Crawley, Ben Foakes +, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Alex Lees, Saqib Mahmood, Craig Overton, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, and Mark Wood.
Interim Head Coach Paul Collingwood and Captain Joe Root must now decide whether to hand the Lancashire quick a debut on Tuesday in an all-seam attack or stick with the variety of Jack Leach’s left-arm spin.
Craig Overton seems certain to play, while Mark Wood has recovered from illness, but with record wicket-takers Anderson and Broad controversially dropped for the tour, concerns over the depth of the pace attack is the last thing the tourists wanted.
“Ollie is a talented bowler. Naturally, he’ll be a big miss,” said Woakes, who is the senior bowler on the trip. “He’s shown in his short Test career so far that he’s certainly got the skills and the ability to do good things in the format. At the same time, it gives people opportunities.
“We’re trying to win games of cricket here, but it does give that chance to someone to potentially make their Test debut who’s been waiting in the wings for quite a while to show what they can do at this level.”