CHELMSFORD, England – The Windies cricketers open their tour of England on Tuesday, when they face Essex County Club in their first three-day first-class match at the County Ground.
First ball is 11am (6am Eastern Caribbean Time/5am Jamaica Time). The encounter launches the Windies preparation for the three-Test series against England and also represents the first occasion the Windies use their new kit from suppliers BLK.
The Test Series will feature the first ever day/night Test in England from August 18 to 22 at Edgbaston. The second match will be at Headingley (August 25 to 29) with the third at Lord’s (September 7 to 11).
The Windies squad arrived in England over the weekend and had a training session at Lord’s on Sunday and at Chlemsford on Monday.
Speaking ahead of the match, Head Coach Stuart Law said the players were upbeat for the upcoming series.
PHOTO CREDIT: CWI Media Photo/Philip Spooner
“The players are really excited about the series. We are getting better every day, we are learning as a unit, and the players are really responding with a magnificent effort,” he said.
“This is going to be a very big series for us. We have the ‘pink ball’ Test match first, followed by the match at Headingley, then the final Test at Lord’s, which promises to be a great occasion.”
Law added: “This is where it all starts for us, tomorrow here against Essex. They are a good team and we will look to make a solid start. The preparations have gone really well and we are looking forward to this match, the other warm-up matches and then into the Test Series against England.”
Captain Jason Holder noted: “I think it is extremely good that we have three games leading into the first Test match, all of them being three-day games and one being a day-nighter, so that’s more than enough preparation time to go into the first Test and into the Test series.”
The 25-year-old allrounder added: “We need to make sure we make use of them to the best of our ability and get what we need out of them. It’s important that batsmen spend some time at the crease, get accustomed to the conditions and the quicker we get acclimatised to the conditions, I think the better off we would be.”
SQUAD
Jason Holder (Captain)
Kraigg Braithwaite (Vice Captain)
Devendra Bishoo
Jermaine Blackwood
Roston Chase
Miguel Cummins
Shane Dowrich
Shannon Gabriel
Shimron Hetmyer
Kyle Hope
Shai Hope
Alzarri Joseph
Kieran Powell
Raymon Reifer
Kemar Roach
MATCH SCHEDULE
Tuesday, August 1 to Thursday, August 3
Tour Match vs Essex – County Ground, Chelmsford
Sunday, August 6 to Tuesday, Aug 8
Tour Match vs Kent – St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury
Friday, August 11 to Sunday, August 13
Tour Match vs Derbyshire – County Ground, Derby
Thursday, August 17 to Monday, August 21
1st Test – Edgbaston, Birmingham (day/night)
Friday, August 25 to Tuesday, August 29
2nd Test – Headingley, Leeds
Saturday, September 2 to Sunday, September 3
Tour Match vs Leicestershire – Grace Road, Leicester
Thursday, September 7 to Monday, September 11
3rd Test – Lord’s, London