James Anderson has warned his England team-mates that they will need to be on top form against a fired-up West Indies side in the upcoming Test series.
The first of three Test matches starts on Wednesday 23 January at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, and England fast bowler Anderson told The Guardian: “Whenever we come here you get the feeling that West Indies really want to beat England.
“It’s something that’s been ingrained in them, especially in the past when England have suffered heavy defeats. You can see it in the players’ eyes when you play against them and that means we’ve got to be on top form to be able to try and challenge them.”
In November England won 3-0 in the Test series in Sri Lanka and come into the Caribbean tour third in the ICC rankings.
Anderson, 36, added: “We’ve not had much of a break since Sri Lanka so that’s pretty fresh in our minds and everyone has come here in really good shape and ready to go.”
The opening Test match between the West Indies and England starts on Wednesday at 2pm UK time. The first Test will be live on Sky Sports Cricket.
Antigua hosts the second Test from 31 January to 4 February and the third and final Test takes place from 9-13 February in St Lucia.
As well as the three Test matches, England take on the Windies in five one-day internationals (ODI) and three Twenty20 (T20) games.
Joe Root (Yorkshire, captain), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), James Anderson (Lancashire), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Rory Burns (Surrey), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Sam Curran (Surrey), Joe Denly (Kent), Ben Foakes (Surrey), Keaton Jennings (Lancashire), Jack Leach (Somerset), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Ben Stokes (Durham), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire); Mark Wood (Durham)
Jason Holder (captain), Kraigg Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Shamarh Brooks, John Campbell, Roston Chase, Shane Dowrich, Shannon Gabriel, Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope, Alzarri Joseph Kemar Roach, Jomel Warrican, Oshane Thomas (cover for Joseph)
Eoin Morgan (Middlesex, captain), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Tom Curran (Surrey), Joe Denly (Kent), Alex Hales (Nottinghamshire), Liam Plunkett (Surrey), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), Ben Stokes (Durham), David Willey (Yorkshire), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire), Mark Wood (Durham)
The West Indies vs. England cricket series will be broadcast live on Sky Sports Cricket. Sky’s punditry team will include David Lloyd, Nasser Hussain and Mike Atherton.