West Indies

Showers all day forced a late start at the Incaro County Ground on Wednesday and the visitors scored a challenging 41 for 3 off their 30 balls faced. Deandra Dottin made 11 off seven balls including a historic six, which was the 100th of her T20I career, she is the first woman to achieve this milestone.

Fast bowler Shamilia Connell demonstrated superb control in her two overs. She took three wickets – one from a stupendous diving catch by captain Stafanie Taylor at extra cover. The strongly-built fast bowler ended with career-best figures of 3-14 to take home the Player-of-the-Match award. England reached 42-7 off 4.3 overs – to record their fifth win of the series.

The five-match series takes place in Barbados from January 22 to 30, with the first match scheduled only four days after the final Ashes Test is due to end.

Therefore, none of England's Ashes squad have been considered for selection, while Paul Collingwood will stand in for Chris Silverwood as coach.

Morgan's squad still includes 11 players who travelled to the T20 World Cup, with England reaching the semi-finals, only to lose to New Zealand.

Two uncapped players – George Garton and David Payne – were also named.

Dawid Malan is out in Australia with Joe Root's struggling red-ball side, while seamers Jofra Archer, Sam Curran and Tom Curran are out injured.

Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler are also playing Down Under, as is Ben Stokes, who missed the T20 World Cup to focus on his mental wellbeing.

Tom Banton and Saqib Mahmood are the other players to have been called up who were not involved in the United Arab Emirates and Oman.

The series marks the continuation of England's preparations for the 2022 T20 World Cup, which will be held in Australia.

"We have selected a strong squad with some serious batting power and a balanced attack as we begin preparations ahead of the T20 World Cup in Australia," said Collingwood.

"The [T20] World Cup is less than a year away and there will be increased opportunities for the squad in the absence of those players who are with the Ashes squad.

"I have good memories winning a World Cup in Barbados and I'm really looking forward to going back there with this squad to face a very good West Indies who will test all aspects of our skills."

England squad in full:

Eoin Morgan (captain), Moeen Ali, Tom Banton, Sam Billings, Liam Dawson, George Garton, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Saqib Mahmood, Tymal Mill, David Payne, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, Phil Salt, Reece Topley, James Vince.

James Anderson will bring the curtain down on his stellar career after the first Test at Lord's, which starts on July 10.

Anderson has taken 700 Test wickets, the most of any fast bowler in the history of the format.

But with the 41-year-old bowing out, England captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum also have an eye on the future of their bowling attack.

Fast bowler Dillon Pennington and wicketkeeper Jamie Smith have earned their maiden call-ups, while Gus Atkinson could be in store for his first cap, after he was included in the squad that toured India earlier this year but did not feature.

Chris Woakes, meanwhile, returns to the fold for the first time in a Test squad since last year's Ashes, and Shoaib Bashir has got the nod over Jack Leach.

This squad will cover the second Test, at Trent Bridge, though a new selection is set to be made before the final match, which will start at Edgbaston on July 26.

Ollie Robinson, Ben Foakes, Jonny Bairstow, Jofra Archer and Mark Wood have been left out, though the latter three have been involved in England's T20 World Cup campaign.

England squad for first two Tests: Ben Stokes (captain), James Anderson, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Dillon Pennington, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Chris Woakes.

Paceman Atkinson took seven wickets and went for just 45 runs as England dominated the opening day against West Indies, finishing with a lead of 68.

The tourists collapsed from 88-3 to 121 all out on Wednesday, with Atkinson taking three of his seven wickets during a phenomenal 35th over.

Alick Athanaze, Jason Holder and Joshua Da Silva could not cope with the England new boy, who had previously dismissed Kraigg Brathwaite and Kirk McKenzie, with Atkinson following up with two more wickets before Anderson sent Jayden Seales packing.

England subsequently took control with the bat, recovering from the early loss of Ben Duckett, with Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope taking Ben Stokes' team to 123 before the latter succumbed to an edge on 57.

Crawley (76) followed when he was done leg before wicket by Holder, but Joe Root (15 not out) and Harry Brook (25 n.o) ensured there was no further loss before the close, which England reached at 189-3.

Data Debrief: Anderson bowing out, but the future's bright

It is truly the end of an era at Lord's over the coming days, and Anderson at least has the guarantee of one wicket from his farewell Test.

He is now on 701 wickets in the longest format, and 120 of those have come at Lord's.

But Atkinson proved there is life after Anderson. His figures of 7-45 are the second best any bowler has managed on men's Test debut for England, after Dominic Cork's 7-43 at Lord's in 1995.

Captain Root has led England into this series alongside stand-in coach Paul Collingwood after the ECB made widespread changes in response to a dismal Ashes tour.

England had issues throughout their line-up in Australia, and the decision to respond by leaving both Stuart Broad and James Anderson at home for this series was not a popular one.

Fellow bowler Mark Wood was lost to an injury for which he is being assessed in the first Test, too, but England remained the most likely winners in Antigua.

Helped by Root's 109 in a second-innings 349-6 declared, England gave themselves two sessions to bowl out West Indies and threatened to do so when Jack Leach took three wickets in a strong spell.

It was not to be, as West Indies finished on 147-4 – some way short of a target of 286 but not at real risk of defeat.

The post-match outlook from Root was a positive one, however.

"I'm really pleased with the way we played, especially given the position we were in after that first hour," said Root, referring to an alarming first day when England slumped to 48-4 prior to Jonny Bairstow's vital 140.

"The guys stayed calm and showed great maturity to get us to a total, especially off the back of a difficult winter and a difficult year where we've not scored anywhere near enough runs."

Lauding his bowlers, too, Root added: "The way the guys stuck at it, especially having one bowler down as well, showed a huge amount of character and it was a huge step forward in many respects.

"No-one stopped believing or gave up all day. We really did give ourselves the best chance of winning this game."

West Indies captain Kieron Pollard won the toss and chose to field, and the home side had early success when Jason Holder removed the man who got 73 for England in the last match, Tom Banton, for just four to leave the visitors 8-1.

Jason Roy and James Vince then put on 85 for the second wicket before Roy was dismissed in the 12^th over for 52 off 42 balls.

Vince was next to go for 34 in the 13^th over to leave the tourists 97-3.

A 65-run fourth-wicket partnership between stand-in captain Moeen Ali and Liam Livingstone then carried the English to 162-4 before Livingstone was dismissed in the 19^th over for 16.

Ali produced some brilliant late innings hitting before he was eventually dismissed for 63 off just 28 balls in the last over.

England’s innings eventually ended on 193-6 after their 20 overs.

Jason Holder finished with 3-44 from his four overs for the Windies.

In the chase, openers Brandon King and Kyle Mayers got off to a fast start reaching 64 before Mayers was dismissed in the eighth over for a well-played 40 off 23 balls.

King then fell in the 10^th over for 26 to leave the West Indies 69-2.

After 10 overs, the West Indies were 76-2 needing 118 more to win from 60 balls with Nicholas Pooran and Rovman Powell at the crease on four and five, respectively.

Powell was unable to replicate his heroics from the third T20I after being dismissed for five by Adil Rashid in the 11^th over.

After two massive sixes, Pooran was the next to go for 22 in the 14^th over to leave the West Indies 97-4, needing 97 more runs to win off 39 balls.

Some brilliant hitting from Jason Holder meant that after 16 overs, the West Indies were 133-4, needing 61 off 24 balls to win with Holder on 29 and captain Kieron Pollard on 3.

Holder then went for 36 in the 18^th over to leave the Windies 144-5 needing 50 from 16 balls to win.

The target eventually proved to be too much for the West Indies who ended on 159-5 off their 20 overs.

Ali followed up his 63 with 2-28 off four overs to cap off an excellent all-round performance, while Reece Topley continued his good form with the ball in the series with 1-21 off his four overs.

The series decider will take place tomorrow.

With Test skipper Joe Root not playing for family reasons, Stokes will get his first taste of international captaincy when England begin their three-Test series against West Indies on Wednesday.

Holder, in contrast, is vastly experienced in the job. The 28-year-old is also number one in the ICC Test all-rounder rankings, sitting just above his opposite number ahead of the return of international cricket amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The individual battle between the two skippers will be an interesting subplot to proceedings, particularly as Stokes will now have to deal with added responsibilities as he fills in for the absent Root.

"England are in capable hands [with Stokes]," Holder told the media ahead of the series opener in Southampton. "He's an excellent cricketer and a great competitor. I'm sure the guys in their dressing room will look up to him.

"He'll have experienced campaigners in his dressing room to help him along, I'm sure. I wish him all the best in this one game as captain."

Both teams boast strong seam-bowling depth, suggesting it will be a tough series for batsmen.

Like England, West Indies have often leaned heavily on the lower order for runs but Holder - who averages 32.72 in the format - is not concerned over who contributes for his team, so long as they post a competitive total.

"It doesn't have to only come from the top order. We're putting a lot of emphasis on the top order," he said.

Yes, they haven't probably lived up to the expectations, but in general it's still a team sport. We've just got to put runs on the board. However we get them, personally, I don't care.  

"It's just a matter of us putting runs on the board and giving our bowlers something to work with."

Holder confirmed West Indies would leave it until the morning of the game to decide on their final XI. The tourists have travelled with a larger squad to work in bio-secure conditions, though the unique situation has afforded opportunities for some on the fringes to impress.

"We've got a few young fast bowlers on tour. Obviously the circumstances have led to us bringing a much bigger touring party and that has given us the luxury to work with some young promising fast bowlers," Holder said.

"I must say I've been very impressed with all of them. They look very, very fit and healthy. There is obviously a lot of room for improvement, but having them here they have been open to learning. A lot of them have grasped so many things over the past couple of weeks.

"The practice session we had yesterday was one of the best practice sessions I've seen in my time playing cricket. It was very, very lively. The fast bowlers really ran in and challenged our batters.

"That really says a lot about the future for these young guys if they can stay fit and healthy, stay on track and work hard, we will have a really good cohort of fast bowlers."

Chasing a Duckworth-Lewis-Stern adjusted target of 188 in 34 overs after several rain interruptions, the Windies lurched from 99 for two to 135 for six following Will Jacks’ unlikely three wicket-haul.

But after Jacks and Rehan Ahmed were bowled out, leaving the Windies requiring 33 off the last four overs, Romario Shepherd greeted returning quick Gus Atkinson with back-to-back sixes to turn the tide.

Atkinson leaked 24 from the over and Shepherd ushered the Windies to a four-wicket win, with 14 balls to spare, with a belligerent 41 not out off 28 balls alongside debutant Matthew Forde (13no).

Forde earlier took three for 29 as England stumbled to 49 for five, with captain Jos Buttler out for a golden duck after an ill-judged hook at Alzarri Joseph took a top edge and ballooned to the fine leg fielder.

Ben Duckett’s classy 71 off 73 balls, putting on 88 with Liam Livingstone (45), dug England out of a hole and was the backbone of their 206 for nine in 40 overs, with the lower order adding some grit.

A 2-1 loss in their first assignment is hardly the start Buttler and head coach Matthew Mott would have wanted in this reset post-World Cup, but a top-order collapse left them with a mountain to climb after they were asked to bat first when play belatedly got under way following a two-hour rain delay.

England’s openers had made four successive partnerships of 50 or more, but were separated in the first over as Phil Salt’s lame chip just about carried to Joseph.

Forde’s day got better when Zak Crawley shaped to leave but the ball reared up off a length, thudded into his glove and looped into the slips.

The rookie’s only misstep occurred with a misfield on the boundary after Duckett’s meaty pull, giving the left-hander the first of three fours in an over but Forde atoned in his next over, hitting a nagging length and finding a bit of shape to take the edge of Jacks.

Matters deteriorated even further in the 10th over for England as Joseph’s direct hit ran out a diving Harry Brook while Buttler’s rush of blood to his first delivery left them five down.

England have endured some epic collapses in the Caribbean down the years and this briefly threatened to be added to an ignominious list, but Duckett and Livingstone stabilised the tourists.

Duckett was especially impressive, strong on his favoured cuts and pulls off the back foot but he eschewed his customary sweeps to the spinners until he had adjusted to an unpredictable pitch.

After going past 50, the left-hander then Livingstone upped the ante, each hammering sixes off Joseph but both perished when they were too early on balls holding up in the pitch. Duckett got a leading edge to short midwicket while in Shepherd’s next over, Livingstone miscued to mid-on.

After a 45-minute rain delay which led to England’s innings being reduced from 43 to 40 overs, last-wicket duo Atkinson and Matthew Potts got them above 200 with an unbroken stand of 35 off 29 balls.

Another downpour took more overs out of the game and meant a revised target, with England making a breakthrough after eight deliveries when Brandon King punched Atkinson to Jacks on the ring.

While Sam Curran found lavish movement and Potts, in for the unwell Brydon Carse, was tidy, there were no further inroads as Buttler turned to Ahmed in the ninth over. The leg-spinner was greeted with a glancing cut by Alick Athanaze before ending his over being driven for another four by Carty.

Ahmed clipped Athanaze’s off-stump without dislodging the bails, tricking England into a review for caught behind, before Atkinson returned to pin the left-handed opener lbw five short of his 50.

After Shai Hope tamely chipped Ahmed’s googly to midwicket, Buttler opted for spin at both ends on an increasingly wearing pitch where prodigious turn was on offer.

Jacks capitalised as Shimron Hetmyer lobbed to point while Sherfane Rutherford holed out. Carty, who had dropped two simple catches when the Windies fielded, made a crucial 50 but gave Jacks a return catch.

Jacks drew the edge of Shepherd two balls later but the ball whistled away for four while the Windies big-hitter threw his hands at Ahmed to alleviate some of the building pressure.

Buttler opted to turn to Atkinson after Ahmed and Jacks bowed out but the paceman delivered two full tosses which were dispatched over the rope, the first following a fumble by Livingstone.

There was no coming back from that for England and Shepherd sealed victory in Livingstone’s next over with a slog sweep for four.

Burns was the only dismissal in the morning session on Saturday, caught by John Campbell at backward point off Roston Chase for a 104-ball 42.

Sibley got to his 50 off 164 deliveries but lost out to Shannon Gabriel soon after.

Joe Denly, 20, and Zack Crawley, 7, are the men at the crease with England 125-2.

England had resumed its second innings on 15-0 at the empty Rose Bowl in reply to West Indies' first-innings total of 318. Progress was slow in the morning with at one point only three runs off nine overs, and 64 runs from 30 overs overall in the session.

England scored 204 in its first innings of the rain-affected test.

Dowrich’s West Indies will face England in the first of three Test matches at the Aeges Stadium in Southampton on July 8, and Dowrich believes the visitors’ pace attack is as good as any.

“If you look at the main four in Shannon, Kemar, Jason and Alzarri, they all present different skills. “Kemar is probably the most skilful of them all in terms of being able to get a consistent line and length and moving the ball both ways. Shannon and Alzarri have a little more pace and Jason is Mr Consistent; he can put the ball on a 10-pence piece,” Dowrich said.

“So I think we bring the whole dynamic, and then obviously you have young Chemar Holder coming up, who is an exciting talent and the way he bowled in first-class cricket this season shows that. So I think we have a well-versed attack and I look forward to seeing them bowl in this series.”

Notwithstanding, Dowrich has nothing but praise for Archer.

“I know Jofra pretty well, he’s an amazing talent and I wish him well going into this series. But at the end of the day when we cross that line, it’s the West Indies against England, but at the end of the day, we have a wonderful bowling line-up and I’m happy with the team that takes the field with me,” he said.

Anderson – England's all-time leading wicket-taker with 700 in 187 red-ball matches – will play his final Test against West Indies at Lord's this week.

The 41-year-old is not going out on his own terms, insisting on Monday that he is bowling as well as he ever has but saying he has been forced to "make peace" with the decision.

Gus Atkinson will make his Test debut against the Windies, while Dillon Pennington and Matthew Potts are competing to replace Anderson when the three-match series moves to Nottingham.

England's revamp of their bowling attack comes after they failed to reclaim the Ashes on home soil last year, drawing a rain-affected series 2-2. 

They head down under for the next edition in 2025-26, and Stokes says they will use the intervening time to blood a new generation of talent.

"You look at how long it's been since we've played a Test match, I think it's been five months," England's red-ball captain told reporters on Tuesday. 

"When you have a lot of time off, you've got a lot of time to think about how you can take the team forward.

"I've been captain for two years, so it's about progressing this team. Especially for the first two years, we've been very focused on the here and now of what we need to do.

"But for me, I want to be able to implement stuff to push this team as far as they can go, not only as a collective but also as individuals.

"If you look at where we've got to go in 18 months' time, to Australia… we want to win that urn back.

"We've got an incredibly talented and exciting group of bowlers coming through at the moment, so giving them the experience of playing international cricket, getting Test matches under their belt, will put us in a much stronger position to win the Ashes."

Anderson's farewell comes at a venue where he has taken 119 Test wickets, the second-most of any player at a particular venue after Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo (166).

"He's an amazing bowler. There's no doubt that he could still go out there and play Test cricket, because he is good enough," Stokes said of Anderson. 

"But when we spoke with Jimmy, we laid it out with him and gave him our reasons, and he totally understood it.

"This week will all be about Jimmy, and rightly so, but I can tell you his main focus is about going out there, taking wickets and trying to win this game for England."

The limited-overs trip to the Caribbean, coming straight off the back of a gruelling six-week trawl of India, had already been highlighted as a time to look at fresh faces but the ODI party contains only six survivors from the unimpressive title defence.

Captain Jos Buttler remains in charge and is joined by Gus Atkinson, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Sam Curran and Liam Livingstone.

Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root and Mark Wood have been rested ahead of January’s Test series in India and Test captain Ben Stokes is heading straight for an operation on his long-term knee injury.

But the omissions of Dawid Malan, Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes from the 50-over squad may prove to be more final.

Moeen and Woakes, together with Adil Rashid, are retained for the T20 leg, suggesting they still have a chance of next summer’s short-form World Cup, but Malan has been cut from both formats.

Despite being England’s top run-scorer over the last few weeks, finishing exactly 100 clear of his nearest challenger, at 36 he seems to have run out of road.

Three uncapped players make the cut in ODI side with Test vice-captain Ollie Pope joining seamers John Turner and Josh Tongue. The pace pair also feature in the 20-over squad.

Phil Salt, Will Jacks and Rehan Ahmed will also make the full trip, indicating they are all seen as important parts of England’s white-ball rebuild.

While Ahmed was handed a two-year central contract last month, it is notable that neither Jacks nor Salt were among the 29 names who did receive deals.

Malan, who appears to have played his final international, was signed up for a year.

ODI squad: J Buttler (c), R Ahmed, G Atkinson, H Brook, B Carse, Z Crawley, S Curran, B Duckett, T Hartley, W Jacks, L Livingstone, O Pope, P Salt, J Tongue, J Turner

T20I squad: J Buttler (c), R Ahmed, M Ali, G Atkinson, H Brook, S Curran, B Duckett, W Jacks, L Livingstone, T Mills, A Rashid, P Salt, J Tongue, R Topley, J Turner, C Woakes.

The wicket-keeper-batter hit an impressive 95 off 109 balls, falling just shy of his maiden century in only his third Test.

Chasing the Windies' first-innings total of 282, England made a nervy start with the early wickets of Ollie Pope (10) and Harry Brook (two) leaving them at 54-5.

Joe Root (87) and Ben Stokes (54) settled the hosts down with a 115-run stand, while Smith's near-century and 62 from Chris Woakes helped them to a total of 376 - a 94-run advantage.

West Indies' response was immediately halted as Woakes claimed skipper Kraigg Braithwaite for a duck in the first over.

Kirk McKenzie (eight) then fell to Gus Atkinson, while opener Mikyle Louis was fortunate to see Stokes drop a simple catch, as the visitors reached stumps on 33-2.

Data Debrief: Root roars past Lara

Root delivered another impressive batting display for England. Although he was fortunate not to be dismissed in the second over, as replays showed he would have been given out had the Windies reviewed an lbw appeal.

Nevertheless, he fully capitalised with his 87 taking him past 12,000 Test runs, making him only the second England player to do so after Alastair Cook.

Although a 33rd Test century narrowly eluded him, Root did leapfrog Brian Lara into seventh place on the all-time leading Test run-scorers list. 

The 26-year-old has not played for England since their visit to India in March due to the long-standing issue.

Archer had surgery in May and was subsequently ruled out of the T20 World Cup and ongoing Ashes series, but the Barbados-born bowler revealed earlier this month that he was close to a return.

However, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced on Tuesday that Archer went under the knife again 10 days ago, and is facing even more time out of action.

The ECB did not confirm a timeframe for Archer's absence, but he is not expected to return until the 2022 domestic season.

"The procedure addressed the long-standing stress fracture of his right elbow," the statement read. 

"A return to cricket will be determined in time, but Jofra will not be available for any of England's remaining winter series."

After the Ashes concludes in a month's time, England have five T20Is to come against West Indies from January 22 and three Tests against the same opponents in March.

England then face world champions New Zealand in a three-Test series on home soil, beginning on June 2.

The Windies face England in behind closed doors games over the course of July, starting next Wednesday.

As a show of solidarity with the movement campaigning for racial equality, England's players will have "Black Lives Matter" displayed on the collar of their shirts throughout the three-match rubber after agreeing to do so with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

The emblem was designed by Alisha Hosannah, the partner of Watford captain Troy Deeney, and has been added to Premier League shirts for all games since the resumption of elite football in England last month.

West Indies' players will wear an identical logo on their shirts.

"It is important to show solidarity to the black community and to raise much-needed awareness around the topics of equality and justice," said England captain Joe Root, who will miss the first Test in Southampton due to the birth of his second child.

"The England players and management are unified in this approach and will use the platform of international cricket to fully support the objective of eradicating racial prejudice wherever it exists.

"There has to be equal opportunity and equal rights for all. We hope by making this stance we can play our part in standing shoulder-to-shoulder as a team and we hope that by continuing to raise awareness we can move towards a society in which the colour of your skin and your background has no bearing on your opportunities.

"It is very simple, we believe there is no room for racism or any form of discrimination, anywhere."

The Test side were hammered 4-0 by Australia and only avoided a whitewash after clinging on for a draw in a rain-affected match at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

As a huge inquest into that pitiful failure Down Under begun, the T20I squad was preparing to lock horns with the Windies in the Caribbean, where Paul Collingwood is standing in for Chris Silverwood as head coach.

England top the rankings, but missed out on T20 World Cup glory when they were beaten by New Zealand at the semi-final stage last November.

West Indies never looked like retaining the trophy in the United Arab Emirates, losing four and drawing one of their five matches.

Things went from bad to worse for the Windies when they were whitewashed 3-0 in Pakistan, before losing an ODI series to Ireland 2-1 on home soil.

The tourists are not at full strength so soon after the Ashes, but Eoin Morgan still has a strong squad - with a mix of new faces and experienced heads - as they build towards another T20 World Cup in Australia this year.

England have won four consecutive T20Is versus the struggling Windies, who have lost eight of their past nine matches in the shortest format ahead of the opening match of the series at Kensington Oval,

We pick out some of the standout performers who could light up the series ahead of the opener in Bridgetown, Barbados.

Living up to the hype, Roy ready to fire

England fell short in their mission to become 50-over and T20I world champions, but they were outstanding before an expensive over from Chris Jordan swung the semi-final in the Black Caps' favour.

Liam Livingstone showed his prowess with the ball in that loss to the Windies and the clean-striking all-rounder should have a huge part to play in England's bid to dethrone Australia later this year.

Livingstone can put on a show in the Caribbean and there could be fireworks from Jason Roy, who blasted 115 from only 47 balls in a warm-up game against a Barbados Cricket Association President's XI this week. 

Rebuilding job for Windies

West Indies were bowled out for only 55 in their defeat to England at the T20 World Cup, with Adil Rashid taking incredible figures of 4-2.

That just about summed up their tournament and they must turn the corner under the leadership of Kieron Pollard, who retained the captaincy.

Nicholas Pooran is set to play in his 50th T20I this weekend and the vice-captain is among the experienced players Pollard will need to step up.

Last month, the England Cricket Board announced the decision to pull out of the tour of Pakistan, which was expected to include matches for both the men’s and women’s teams.  The decision came sharply on the back of the New Zealand’s team's choice to pull out of a similarly planned tour after citing security concerns.

The ECB cited a concern for "mental and physical well-being" as the primary reason for taking the decision particularly as the group had ‘already coped with a long period of operating in restricted Covid environments’.  Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chair Ramiz Raja accused the ECB of failing a fellow member of the cricket fraternity and Holding was also not convinced by the body’s reasons.

"The ECB statement doesn't wash with me," the always forthright Holding said. "No substance."

"Nobody wants to come forward and face up to anything because they know what they did was wrong,” he added.

"So they put out a statement and hid behind a statement. It just reminds me of the rubbish they did with Black Lives Matter.

"I won't go back into that because I've said enough about that. But what that signal sends to me, is the same Western arrogance.

"I will treat you how I feel like treating you, it doesn't matter what you think, I'll just do what I want."

Wood, 32, bowled 17 overs in the first Test in Antigua before suffering an issue with his right elbow and subsequently underwent two scans since arriving in Barbados for England's second outing.

Those scans have confirmed a problem with his bowling arm and he will now return to England for "a specialist opinion regarding the management of his injury".

The Durham quick will take an "indefinite break from cricket until more information is determined from the elbow specialist", which leaves him unable to feature in the third Test that starts on March 24 in Grenada.

Wood has also been ruled out of contention for the IPL with the Giants, who paid £735,000 for Wood in the auction and start their IPL campaign against fellow debutants Gujarat Titans on 28 March.

England, who are already without injured duo Olly Stone and Jofra Archer, are yet to confirm whether they will call up a fast-bowling replacement, with Craig Overton and Ollie Robinson likely to return soon.

Wood was the pick of England's bowlers in the poor series against Australia, finishing as Joe Root's leading wicket-taker with 17 dismissals, including his first Ashes five-for, during his four appearances in the five-Test series.

The hosts ended the day on 248-3, aided by two century partnerships from Ollie Pope and Ben Duckett, and Joe Root and Harry Brook. Both Brook, on 71, and Root, on 37, will resume batting on Sunday.

Despite Chris Woakes claiming the wickets of Alzarri Joseph (10) and Jayden Seales (duck) in successive balls, a final-wicket stand of 71 from Shamar Joseph (33) and Joshua da Silva, who was left unbeaten on 82, saw West Indies, who resumed at 351-5, reach 457.

Scores: England 416 & 248-3 (Duckett 76, Brook 71*, Pope 51, A Joseph 2-58) lead West Indies 457 (Hodge 120, Da Silva 82*, Woakes 4-84) by 207 runs

England's second innings, which they began 41 runs adrift, got off to a nervy start as opener Zak Crawley (three) was run out by Jayden Seales at the non-striker's end.

However, much like they did in the first innings, Duckett (76) and Pope (51) settled the hosts down with a 119-run second-wicket stand, before Alzarri Joseph claimed both in the space of eight deliveries.

Still, Brook and Root also produced an important, unbroken 108-run partnership that placed Ben Stokes' side in command heading into day four.

Data Debrief: Successive century partnerships for Duckett and Pope

With a strong finish to their opening innings, the Windies reached 457 - their highest total on English soil since 1995.

England's response was led by Duckett and Pope's impressive stand of 119, their second three-figure partnership of the series.

They became only the ninth pair to make two century stands for England in a men's Test, and first since Joe Root and Alistair Cook achieved the feat against Pakistan eight years ago.

The pacemen were part of the side that lost the series opener in Southampton last week but will not feature at Old Trafford, Anderson missing out on playing at his home ground.

With Anderson and Wood left out, Stuart Broad - a surprising omission from the line-up last week - looks set to earn a recall.

England have drafted left-armer Sam Curran and uncapped Sussex seamer Ollie Robinson into a 13-man squad as they strive to keep the series alive.

Another change sees captain Joe Root, who missed the opening Test due to the birth of his second child, return in place of batsman Denly.

Zak Crawley will move up a place in the order to bat at number three, with Root slotting back it at four.

England were unable to train outdoors on Wednesday due to bad weather, though Root has had a chance to look at the wicket as his side bid to level the three-match series. 

"I had a quick look yesterday – it has been under covers for the large part of yesterday evening and all of today," he told the media. 

"It looked like a good wicket and I’m expecting it to be just that really. Hopefully there is an opportunity for batters to go out there and make big scores, go on and convert some starts if we get in. With that, you want to see a bit of carry and bounce."

Meanwhile, Saqib Mahmood has left the Test party and will join up with England's white-ball training group on Thursday ahead of the home series against Ireland.