WI coach Phil Simmons expects Jason Holder to have an edge over Ben Stokes in 1st Test

West Indies coach Phil Simmons believes the opening Test between West Indies and England will be a battle between two all-rounder captains in which he expects his skipper Jason Holder to "get on top" of his England counterpart Ben Stokes. Holder and Stokes, both top all-rounders, will lead their respective sides with the latter standing in for regular captain Joe Root who will miss the opening 'bio-secure' Test for the birth of his second child.

The first of the three-match Test series will get underway at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton on Wednesday.

'Ben is one of them': Phil Simmons

"I think that it's going to be a toss-up between these two allrounders and hopefully Jason can do what's necessary to get on top of Ben in this first Test," Simmons told reporters on the eve of the opening Test. "Ben is one of them who leads from the front. That's been shown by all his exploits before in cricket, (so) we will have to make sure that we get on to him very early because he likes to do what is necessary for his team", he added.

"You have to be careful about how you use an advantage because, with Root not being there, you have some youngster who wants to make a name for himself. "And sometimes that's even harder than the players you know so you have to be very careful about saying that it's an advantage," he said.

"Ben has not had that time (as captain) but they've had a successful team for a while, and that helps," he added. 

"With the experience that he has behind him - Jimmy (Anderson) and Broad and people like that, there's a lot of experience to help him on the field if he comes a cropper. But it's hard to really say if that's a big advantage", the Windies coach further added. 

West Indies tour of England 2020

Meanwhile, all the cricketing events have either been postponed or canceled since the month of March due to the global pandemic. The cricketing action will get underway when England and the West Indies lock horns in a three-match Test series starting from July 8. All the matches will be played behind closed doors. The first Test match will be played at the Rosebowl Cricket Ground (8-12 July) while the second and third Test matches will be played at the Old Trafford Cricket Ground (16-20 July), while the third and final Test will be played at the same venue as well (24-28 July).

READ: Kemar Roach Says He Is A Huge Fan Of Star English All-rounder Ben Stokes

(With PTI Inputs)

(Image Courtesy: AP)