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London: England captain Andrew Strauss is hoping the presence of a few new faces can end his side's four-year long failure to win the first Test of a series.
England start a two-match Test campaign against the West Indies at Lord's on Wednesday (May 6) in a match where pace bowlers Tim Bresnan and Graham Onions could both make their Test debuts.
It is now 14 series since England got off to a winning start and Strauss, speaking at Lord's, said: "All I can say is that the attitude and the environment seems fantastic at the moment.
The last six Tests at the 'home of cricket' have all ended in draws and opening batsman Strauss, reflecting on the reasons behind England's record in series openers, added: "There are mitigating circumstances, we've played a lot of drawn Tests at Lord's but the reality is you don't want to be level or behind after the first Test in a series.
Ravi Bopara is the latest candidate to be thrown into the No. 3 spot and the most exciting option the selectors could have taken. Everyone expected it to be Michael Vaughan, Ian Bell or Owais Shah, but Flower had other ideas. It is a gamble from the selectors as Bopara has rarely batted at three for Essex, but he isn't short on confidence.
Fidel Edwards produced some of the most hostile spells in the recent Caribbean series and was the quickest bowler on either side. He, like Gayle, has been at the IPL so will quickly have to switch from Twenty20 into Test mode.
Pitch and conditions
Lord's has turned into a batting paradise in recent years and the last six Tests have all been drawn. There is a tinge of green to the latest surface, but that doesn't necessarily mean there will be any more life for the quicks and they don't have a habit of breaking up for the spinners, either. The forecast is promising with Wednesday meant to be cloudy but dry and just a few showers possible on Thursday.
Stats and Trivia
Match facts
Wednesday May 6 - Sunday May 10
Start time 11.00am local (10.00GMT)
