England won the toss and chose to bowl first vs West Indies
“What we can expect from Jimmy is complete heart, desire and passion to go out there and win games for England,” Stokes said. “His sole goal this week is to go out there and be the performer that he has [been] for such a long period of time. We haven’t really spoken about this week and what it holds up in the dressing room because Jimmy is the utter professional. I’m sure that [for the] first ball that gets bowled today, the crowd will be right up.”
Kraigg Brathwaite, West Indies’ captain, said that he would have bowled first too but implored his young batters to dream big. “It’s important to get in – it’s obviously the most difficult time when you first start – but just trust your eyes, trust your technique and think big,” he said. “Think big, batsmen today: you’re playing at Lord’s.”
There were no late changes or surprises in selection, after both teams opted to name their XIs early: England on Monday afternoon, and West Indies on Tuesday lunchtime.
England: 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Ollie Pope, 4 Joe Root, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Ben Stokes (capt), 7 Jamie Smith (wk), 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Gus Atkinson, 10 Shoaib Bashir, 11 James Anderson
West Indies: 1 Kraigg Brathwaite (capt), 2 Mikyle Louis, 3 Kirk McKenzie, 4 Alick Athanaze, 5 Kavem Hodge, 6 Jason Holder, 7 Joshua Da Silva (wk), 8 Alzarri Joseph, 9 Gudakesh Motie, 10 Shamar Joseph, 11 Jayden Seales