England captain Joe Root won the toss and opted to bat first against the West Indies on the opening day of the first Test of the three-match series  in Antigua on Tuesday.

Seeking a strong start to maintain their lengthy Test dominance of the visitors in the Caribbean, West Indies went into the match with left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul playing his first home test for seven years in support of a four-man seam attack led by Kemar Roach.

Batsman Kyle Mayers and uncapped pacer Anderson Phillip were omitted from the 13-man squad announced a week ago.

As expected, especially given the appearance of a dry pitch at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium that is expected to offer increasing assistance for slow bowlers as the match progresses, England omitted seamer Saqib Mahmood in preference for specialist spinner Jack Leach in their final 11 from the 12-man squad named two days earlier.

It is a combination showing six changes from the final match of their abysmal Ashes series in Australia with Alex Lees making his Test debut at the top of the batting order alongside Zak Crawley.

Teams:

• West Indies: Kraigg Brathwaite (captain), John Campbell, Nkrumah Bonner, Shamarh Brooks, Jermaine Blackwood, Jason Holder, Joshua da Silva (wicketkeeper), Alzarri Joseph, Kemar Roach, Jayden Seales, Veerasammy Permaul.
• England: Joe Root (capt), Zak Crawley, Alex Lees, Dan Lawrence, Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Foakes (wicketkeeper), Chris Woakes, Craig Overton, Mark Wood, Jack Leach.
• Umpires: Joel Wilson (TRI), Gregory Brathwaite (BAR)
• Match Referee: Sir Richie Richardson (ANT)