England are under-prepared - Flower

England's head coach, Andy Flower, believes that several key members of the squad to face West Indies in the first Test at Lord's on Wednesday are "under-prepared" having spent the early part of the season in the IPL in South Africa.

The middle-order trio of Kevin Pietersen, Ravi Bopara and Paul Collingwood did not return to England until late last week, with Collingwood having failed to play a single game during his stint with the Delhi Daredevils. And Flower told BBC Radio Five Live: "They are [under-prepared], without a doubt, with regard to first-class cricket."

Another of England's IPL players, Owais Shah, was dropped from the squad for the first Test having failed to cement his place during the winter series in the Caribbean, while West Indies also have their own preparation concerns, with their captain, Chris Gayle, arriving in the country on Monday morning, just 48 hours ahead of the match.

Flower did not take charge of the England team until January, and was not formally unveiled as the Director of Cricket until late last month. He did not, therefore, have any say in the ECB's decision to allow its centrally contracted players a window to play in the IPL.

"That is ECB policy, that they were allowed to go to the IPL in the first place," said Flower. "But they have had a superb experience, the atmosphere of the tournament has excited them about the game and they have come back really energised for the season ahead."