WIndies win toss, put England in first Test

NORTH SOUND, Antigua and Barbuda: West Indies captain Denesh Ramdin won the toss and put England in to bat on the opening day of the first Test of the three-match series at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua and Barbuda on Monday.

Seam bowler James Anderson plays his 100th Test match as the spearhead of the tourists´ attack and goes into the match needing four more wickets to surpass Ian Botham´s tally of 383 as the most by an England cricketer in Tests.

Eighteen months after he left the tour of Australia following the first Test due to an apparent stress-related illness, Jonathan Trott is back in the final 11 and will open the batting in his 50th Test alongside captain Alastair Cook.

West Indies resisted the temptation to play a second spinner on a pitch noted to favour batsmen, opting for the incumbent Sulieman Benn and omitting Devendra Bishoo despite the leg-break bowler´s prolific domestic season with his native Guyana.

Batsman Shai Hope and all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite, who were both anticipating the prospects of Test debuts, are also left out.

Teams
West Indies - Denesh Ramdin (captain), Kraigg Brathwaite, Devon Smith, Darren Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Jermaine Blackwood, Jason Holder, Jerome Taylor, Kemar Roach, Sulieman Benn
England - Alastair Cook (captain), Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell, Gary Ballance, Joe Root, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Stuart Broad, Chris Jordan, James Tredwell, James Anderson
Umpires: Billy Bowden (NZL), Steve Davis (AUS), TV Umpire: Bruce Oxenford (AUS),
Match Referee: Andy Pycroft (ZIM)
(AFP)