West Indies host England in the first of three one-day internationals in Antigua today as the tourists look to get back to winning ways again following a demoralising winter in Australia.

Both sides head into the series with new blood within their ranks.

The Windies are without Chris Gayle due to injury and England are minus Kevin Pietersen, who was permanently ousted from the England set-up following a troublesome winter period.

Pietersen wasn't the only casualty.

Spinner Graeme Swann and Test coach Andy Flower were victims of the disastrous tour, and captain Alastair Cook will sit this tour out in order to give T20 skipper Stuart Broad the necessary time to gel with his posse before heading to Bangladesh for the T20 World Cup.

Interim coach Ashley Giles has opted to name a relatively inexperienced squad and much will rest on the shoulders of the batting of the experienced Eoin Morgan and strike bowling of Broad.

The visitors sport three new caps in Harry Gurney, Moeen Ali and Stephen Parry, who is tasked with replacing the off-spin brilliance of Swann.

Giles knows that his hopes of securing the role of England coach in all formats is bound to be judged partially by what happens over the next few weeks during this series and in the T20 bonanza.

One man who potentially could be challenging Giles for the top job is West Indies head coach Ottis Gibson.

He has been tight lipped in the build-up to this clash regarding his chances of landing the role.

Asked whether his "name was in the hat" for the England job, Gibson replied: "My name is firmly in the hat for this job I'm doing."

"When you're not working then every job appeals to you," Gibson said. "But at the moment I'm working and working hard so that is all I'm looking at right now.

"Both sides haven't set the world on fire recently in this format. So, England will be thinking that it is a good time to play us. We're at home so hopefully that will count for something."

The Windies have been riddled with inconsistency over the last three months, starting with a narrow 2-1 defeat in India last November, followed by a creditable 2-2 draw in New Zealand last month.