The England national cricket team toured the West Indies between April and May 2015 for a three-match Test series, preceded by two two-day warm-up matches against a St Kitts Invitational XI.
England announced their squad for the tour on 18 March 2015. Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes were not initially selected due to injuries sustained at the 2015 Cricket World Cup, though Ali joined the squad for the second Test. Uncapped Test players Adil Rashid, Adam Lyth and Mark Wood were included, along with Jonathan Trott, who last played for England in the 2013–14 Ashes series.
The series finished as a draw, which meant England retained the Wisden Trophy they won when the West Indies toured England in 2012. The first Test in Antigua finished as a draw before England won the second Test in Grenada by nine wickets. However, the third Test finished in less than three days after the second day produced 18 wickets, a record for a Test in the West Indies; the home side bowled England out for just 123 runs in the second innings, setting up a five-wicket victory as they chased down a target of 192.
Background
The tour was part of a very full England schedule for 2015, during which they played international cricket every month of the year. England were coming to the West Indies immediately after the 2015 Cricket World Cup in New Zealand and Australia. Additionally, England had a scheduled ODI against Ireland in Dublin three days after the final Test match. The schedule for the Test series was announced in August 2014, with the three Test matches scheduled to take place at: Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua, the National Cricket Stadium in Grenada, and Kensington Oval in Barbados. Sir Vivian Richards Stadium hadn’t hosted a Test match since 2009, when a Test match between England and the West Indies was cancelled after just ten deliveries had been bowled due to an unsafe outfield. Grenada was also hosting its first Test match since 2009, and this marked the first time that England had ever played an international match at the National Cricket Stadium. England went into the tour in bad form on the back of a disastrous campaign in the World Cup.However, their most recent Test series had been a success, as they defeated India 3-1 in a home series in August 2014.
Squads
England announced their 16-man squad for the tour on 18 March 2015. One question for England going into the tour was who would open the batting alongside captain Alastair Cook, something that had been a regular issue for the team since the retirement of Andrew Strauss in 2012. The incumbent in the role was Sam Robson, who had played seven Test matches for England in the summer of 2014, but his performances had been mediocre. He played for England Lions in a tour of South Africa in January 2015, where he made only 46 runs in three innings. The main alternatives for England, Adam Lyth and Alex Lees, had also gone on the tour, but neither had done much better than Robson and neither had any Test match experience. Another option was Jonathan Trott, who had not played an international match for England since the 2013-14 Ashes series, when he left Australia early due to a stress-related illness. Trott captained the England Lions on a tour of South Africa in January 2015 and scored an unbeaten 211 in the first unofficial Test match of the series to put himself back into contention to play for England. Although he had originally batted at number 3 for England, this spot was now filled by Gary Ballance, and Trott had said that he was happy to open the batting instead. England decided to leave Robson out of their squad for the tour, and included both Trott and Lyth as options to replace him.
All-rounder Chris Woakes was left out of the touring team due to a foot injury, which had caused him to miss England’s last match of the World Cup. He was replaced in the squad by Ben Stokes. Spin bowler Moeen Ali was also left out because of a side strain he had suffered in the World Cup, so England included Adil Rashid and James Tredwell in the squad. Rashid had not yet made his Test debut, but had played ten limited overs internationals for England until 2009, and Tredwell had only played a single Test match five years earlier. Ali resumed training with his county side, Worcestershire, earlier than expected at the start of April, putting him on track to return to the national side by the time of the second Test match.