Graveney - 'It's a series we must win'

After an extra 24 hours of umming and ahhing, England have announced a squad that shows no changes from the Bangladesh and Sri Lanka tour. David Graveney, the chairman of selectors, was on hand to clear up a few of the selection decisions, and insisted it was a series which England must win.

Speaking on Sky Sports today, Graveney shed some light on the situation with Simon Jones and the other fast bowlers, the choice to include two spinners, and the wicketkeeping position.

He confirmed that Jones is on standby for the Caribbean, depending on how he fares during the England A tour of India. "The tour is an exciting prospect for Simon, and we will be monitoring his form and fitness," Graveney said. "If he comes through OK, he will then be added to the squad, but we don't want to put too much pressure on him."

Graveney admitted that picking the fast bowlers had been a problem, made worse with the news that Richard Johnson will have to undergo knee surgery - he has subsequently been ruled out of both the Test and one-day squads.

Andrew Flintoff did make the cut, though, and Graveney insisted he would be fit enough to travel - and would hopefully not be overbowled. "Freddie's job is to try and take wickets in losing positions. So it's important that the others take some wickets as well. James Anderson needs to recapture his early form, and Steve Harmison needs to make sure he stays fit."

While there was some speculation that only one spinner would be picked, Graveney defended the decision to take both Ashley Giles and Gareth Batty. "We haven't been to the West Indies for a number of years, and with the slow and low wickets out there, we need options available. Ashley did a fantastic job in Sri Lanka, and while Gareth still needs to work on areas of his bowling, he is an exciting prospect with a great future." Graveney did concede, however, that if Robert Croft had not announced his retirement from international cricket, there would have been "some interesting discussions".

On the wicketkeeping situation, Graveney said it was a "keenly contested area" between Chris Read and Geraint Jones. He said: "Chris got the nod before, but it will be interesting to see who Duncan [Fletcher] feels should have first crack of the whip."

Graveney concluded that if England played to their potential, then they would win, but added that West Indies will be no pushover. "They are not in the same bowling league as when they had Walsh and Ambrose, but they showed plenty of character in the way they responded against South Africa."