England and the West Indies contest the Richards-Botham Trophy starting with a Test match at the home of cricket to get the hosts’ international summer underway.
These matches also form part of the World Test Championship 2023 – 2025 cycle.
The West Indies last played a Test at Lord’s in 2018 and last won a match in the format at the historic ground in 1988. England have lost two of their last three matches at the venue with the one win coming against Ireland.
To Win Match
England 1/6 | Draw 15/2 | West Indies 10/1
England’s Bazball approach to Test cricket has come under scrutiny for its failure to produce results and the hosts start this series under a fair bit of pressure.
Ben Stokes’ leadership as skipper is also under question and anything other than a domination of the West Indies could lead to more inquiries.
James Anderson will bring the curtain down on a career that will see him remembered as one of the all-time great players.
Worcestershire’s Dillon Pennington comes in as the man who will likely step in once Anderson steps away unless England opt for a four-pronged pace attack with spinner Shaoib Bashir then missing out on the first Test.
The West Indies arrive with quite a young and inexperienced group of players particularly among the top order.
St Kitts & Nevis’ fast bowler, Jeremiah Louis was a late replacement for Kemar Roach who hasn’t recovered from a knee injury in time to take part in this series.
Kavem Hodge likely played his way into the Test XI with his century in the warm-up match.
The West Indies will need to get a lot out of their veterans like Kraigg Brathwaite and all-rounder Jason Holder.
Verdict: England 1/6
England should be too strong for the West Indies when the two sides are compared from a batting power point of view.
