The notable absentees from England’s 13 for Wednesday’s first Test against West Indies are Jack Leach and Sam Curran, with the latter’s chances of selection diminished by a bug that prevented him participating in two of the three days of the practice match. Dom Bess will take the spinner’s slot and Joe Denly is preferred to the uncapped Dan Lawrence. Two senior citizens, Moeen Ali and Jonny Bairstow, are packing their bags and leaving the Rose Bowl bubble. Neither are required for the Test series against West Indies and now must dutifully focus on joining the white-ball bubble before the three ODIs scheduled against Ireland at the end of July. Among the reserves there are five uncapped players, who can look on and learn eagerly, which is hardly an appropriate role for such experienced players as Moeen and Bairstow. “No one doubts that Jonny Bairstow is a very good cricketer across formats for England. No doors are closed,” said the England selector, Ed Smith. “It’s also the case that we are where we were. “When Covid‑19 caused a suspension of cricket Jos Buttler was the man in possession – still is the man in possession – and he has our full support as England’s wicketkeeper‑batsman. And Ben Foakes was the deputy on the tour of Sri Lanka. That’s where it is today.” It was a similar story with Moeen. “We’re very glad Moeen is available again. That’s good news.” By selecting 13 in the Test squad Smith has reduced the decisions to be taken by new captain, Ben Stokes, and head coach, Chris Silverwood, on the morning of the match. The batting lineup has been settled by the selectors with Denly keeping his place. We do not yet know for sure the precise batting order. “The captain has the batting order, as it should be,” said Smith. “It’s free for the captain to decide that. My expectation is that Joe Denly will retain the No 3 spot and Zak Crawley will bat four.” Smith spoke of an emerging Test plan for the batting lineup. “There has been a real emphasis on solidity at the top of the order and getting first innings runs. What we have seen is that since a slight shift of plan this winter the England team has batted with more consistency and solidity throughout the order and Joe Denly has been a big part of that.” To add some spice for the top four in the forthcoming Test, they all know one of them will have to give way at Old Trafford to allow Joe Root back in the team. Nor will there be any more agonising about the identity of England’s spinner on Wednesday. That will be Bess. The selectors have ruled out the possibility of playing two spinners despite a much-improved forecast and they have rejected the notion of having someone (Leach), who can turn the ball away from the bat against a West Indies side likely to include 10 right-handers. They may miss Root’s bowling as well as his batting. So much for keeping all options open. Stokes and Silverwood will be left with one very tricky choice when deciding the final balance of the bowling attack. Despite all the talk of rotation, no one ever wants to miss a home Test. If they opt to play Jofra Archer and Mark Wood in the same side for the first time, one of their great stalwarts will have to miss out. “I would not want to speculate on that,” said Smith. “There is a real desire to have as much flexibility as we can. There are six Tests in seven weeks; the science and medicine team have done everything they can but we don’t know how people will respond.” Omitting Stuart Broad – or Jimmy Anderson – would be quite a call for Stokes to take in his first match in charge, though somehow it seems unlikely that he will be shy of making the tough decision.