After cruising to victory in the opening Test at Lord's, England will endeavour to wrap up the series when they face the West Indies in the second Test at Trent Bridge starting on Thursday.
The visitors, meanwhile, will attempt to bounce back and level the three-match series before heading into the final Test at Edgbaston scheduled for July 26 to July 30.
Match preview
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There will have been many Test cricket lovers looking forward to a full five days of action between these two cricketing rivals in the first match, but England made light work of their West Indian counterparts as they won by innings and 114 runs, completing the rout barely an hour into the third day at Lord's.
It was a particularly memorable series for seamers James Anderson and Gus Atkinson, with the former ended his legendary international career on a high as the latter made an immediate impact with a player-of-the-match display on his Three Lions' debut.
Anderson, England's all-time leading wicket-taker, took three second-innings wickets in his 188th and final Test to finish with a total of 704 - third on cricket's all-time list behind Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan (800) and Australia's Shane Warne (708). The 41-year-old had the chance to take the winning wicket, but the fairytale moment went begging as he dropped a caught-and-bowled chance off Gudakesh Motie.
Atkinson, meanwhile, impressively claimed match figures of 12-106 - the best for an England debutant in 134 years. The 26-year-old Surrey seamer became the first England player since Alec Bedser back in 1946 to take 10 wickets on his home Test debut, with his 7-45 in the first innings followed up by 5-61 in the second.
While England's bowlers stole the headlines, head coach Brendon McCullum will have taken positives from his side's batting display. Although they once again failed to reach the desired 400-mark, the Three Lions were all out for 371 in their first and only innings, with five players scoring at least 50 runs - Zak Crawley the top scorer with 76 from 89 balls.
A similarly dominant display in the second Test will be the aim for England, who have only won two of their previous six Tests at Trent Bridge and just one of their last nine at the same ground against the West Indies - a nine-wicket win with more than a day to spare back in 2012.
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Although there were occasional bright spells from the West Indies in the first Test - particularly with the ball as Jayden Seales took four wickets while debutant Mikyle Louis produced a stunning throw to run out Shoaib Bashir for a duck - there was a notable gulf between the two sides with the bat.
West Indies struggled to cope with the pace of England's seamers and were bundled out for just 121 in the first innings, with only three players scoring more than 20 runs. Their batting display barely improved in the second innings as they were bowled out for 136, with Gudakesh Motie finishing as their top scorer with 31 runs from 35 balls, including five fours.
Head coach Andre Coley has suggested that his inexperienced side have learned from the heavy defeat, stating that the 'process' they went through was 'a lot more powerful' than the result itself, and there was plenty to take away from his team's performance.
Coley has also encouraged his players to channel the resilience shown in their two-match series with Australia earlier this year, in which they claimed a famous victory by just eight runs at The Gabba to tie the series having previously been thrashed by 10 wickets in the first Test.
West Indies head into Thursday's contest looking to win their first Test match in England since July 2020 when they won by four wickets at the Rose Bowl before going on to lose the three-match series 2-1.
Team News
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England have confirmed that fast bowler Mark Wood has been added to their squad for the second Test. The 34-year-old missed the first Test after representing the Three Lions at the T20 World Cup in June.
Wood takes the place vacated by the retired Anderson and is one of three seamers along with Durham teammate Matthew Potts and Nottinghamshire's uncapped Dillon Pennington battling for a spot in the first XI - the latter is eyeing up a debut on his home ground.
Jamie Smith is set to keep his place after notching up an impressive 70 runs as a lower middle-order batman on his Test debut in the first innings, as well as taking four catches behind the stumps, while fellow debutant Shoaib Bashir could also be given a second chance despite the 20-year-old off-spinner not bowling a single ball in the first Test.
As for the West Indies, they are set to make a late call on the fitness of fast bowler Shamar Joseph who suffered stiffness in his left hamstring during the first Test.
Mikyle Louis made his Test debut last time out, becoming the first man from St Kitts to play Test cricket for the West Indies, and after showing signs of promise with the bat - albeit scoring only 41 runs across two innings - he should continue as an opener along with captain Kraigg Brathwaite.
England squad: Ben Stokes (c), Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Dillon Pennington, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood
West Indies squad: Kraigg Brathwaite (c), Alick Athanaze, Joshua Da Silva (wk), Jason Holder, Kavem Hodge, Tevin Imlach (wk), Alzarri Joseph, Shamar Joseph, Mikyle Louis, Jeremiah Louis, Zachary McCaskie, Kirk McKenzie, Gudakesh Motie, Jayden Seales, Kevin Sinclair
Series so far
First Test: England won by an innings and 114 runs
West Indies 121 all out (41.4 overs)
England 371 all out (90 overs)
West Indies 136 all out (47 overs)
We say: England to win
The unpredictability of England means that West Indies cannot be ruled out of this contest entirely, but if the first Test is anything to go by, the Three Lions should once again have the strength, particularly in the bowling department, to secure a victory and wrap up the series.
Oliver Thomas
