1st Test: West Indies v England at North Sound

England begin a run of 17 Tests in just nine months today when they take on the West Indies at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua.

After three Tests in the Caribbean, England have summer Test series against New Zealand and Australia - both far superior teams than the Windies on paper - followed by four Tests in South Africa during the winter.

The match in Antigua sees captain Alastair Cook return to England colours for the first time since being unceremoniously axed as ODI captain ahead of the World Cup and he knows his team need to rebuild their collective confidence – quickly – ahead of the sterner tests to come.

On the eve of the first Test, Ramdin said: "We have a young team and we will come out and play exciting and attacking cricket. It will be a tough series, with some hard days on the field, but we are ready for the hard work. We are fully prepared.

"We know the opposition is a very good team, we need to do the basic stuff which is important ... when we get out to bat try and spend time at the crease.

"We are pushing ourselves a lot more now. A lot of youngsters are coming through, new faces that the English don't know about."

After the first match, the sides will play two more Tests in Grenada and Barbados respectively.

West Indies have won the toss and elected to bowl first in the 1st Test against England in Antigua