West Indies v England LIVE commentary: UK start time, team news and exclusive ball-by-ball coverage of the first Test in Antigua

England are in the Caribbean as they look to get their first Test series win since last year against the West Indies, exclusively live on talkSPORT 2.

The tourists need to respond after a desperately poor tour of Australia that saw Joe Root’s men fail to win a single Test as the Aussies emphatically retained the Ashes.

After England play at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, they then face the Windies in two more quick-fire Tests.

The second will take place at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown and the third is at the National Cricket Stadium in St George’s.

England lost 2-1 on their last visit to the West Indies, and haven’t won out there since a winter tour in 2003/04.

And after an appalling 2021 in which England only beat Sri Lanka in a Test series, Root really needs to get back to winning ways.

West Indies vs England: How to listen

Uninterrupted ball-by-ball coverage of the West Indies vs England tour will be live on talkSPORT 2 this month.

Our superb broadcast line-up for the match includes Mark Nicholas, Steve Harmison, Matt Prior and Mark Butcher.

The first Test will be held at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium on Tuesday, March 8 and the action will get underway at 2pm.

We’ll also have full coverage of the second and third Tests too.

Just ask your smart speaker to ‘play talkSPORT 2‘.

To tune in to talkSPORT or talkSPORT 2, click  HERE for the live stream.

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West Indies vs England: Team news

There have been some major changes within the England set up and Paul Collingwood has been tasked with leading the team through the tour of the West Indies.

England will be without James Anderson and Stuart Broad, who have been dropped from the squad, so the pressure will be on the likes of Chris Woakes, Ben Stokes and Saqib Mahmood to deliver.

Mark Wood is currently unwell, so it remains to be seen if he recovers in time to play on Tuesday.

In another blow to England, Ollie Robinson has been ruled out of the first Test with a back injury.

England also have problems in the batting department.

Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed are out after they struggled in Australia and the pressure is on Alex Lees and Zak Crawley to deliver.

The pair impressed in England’s warm up game against West Indies President’s XI but can they deliver in the first test?

West Indies look set to hand 25-year-old Anderson Phillip his Test debut after a scintillating start to the West Indies Championship.

He has taken 12 wickets after only two rounds of matches and now, he could be facing England.

However, Kraigg Brathwaite won’t be able to call on Shannon Gabriel for the first Test because of a hamstring injury.

England Squad: Joe Root (c), Jonny Bairstow, Zak Crawley, Ben Foakes (wk), Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Alex Lees, Saqib Mahmood, Craig Overton, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood

West Indies Squad: Kraigg Brathwaite (c), Jermaine Blackwood, Nkrumah Bonner, Shamarh Brooks, John Campbell, Joshua Da Silva (wk), Jason Holder, Alzarri Joseph, Kyle Mayers, Veerasammy Permaul, Anderson Phillip, Kemar Roach, Jayden Seales

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West Indies vs England: What has been said?

Joe Root said: “It was clearly a disappointing tour of Australia and we massively underperformed, but we’ve got to use this opportunity for a fresh start.

“We’re looking to make a big difference and turn things round very quickly.

“We’re not currently one of the best teams in the world but that can be our ambition and we can make quick strides in getting closer to that.”

Windies lead selector Desmond Haynes said: “We have a squad that has some experienced players as well as some exciting young players. We expect them to equip themselves well and do the job.

“I expect us to be very competitive against England. This should be a very exciting series, with a lot of players who are out to make their mark.”