5 things we learned from England’s latest Test squad announcement

England have made sweeping changes to their Test squad, reacting decisively to their Ashes humiliation with a major overhaul for the forthcoming tour of the West Indies.

Here, the PA news agency looks at the key issues arising from the big announcement.

Succession planning for life after England’s two most prolific bowlers ever has been ongoing for years, but somehow the omission of a 39-year-old seamer and his 35-year-old partner still came across as a ruthless move. On form, both men deserve their place in the squad – they each outperformed Chris Woakes in Australia and Craig Overton has yet to show he can be a trustworthy successor – but an interim management team of Sir Andrew Strauss and Paul Collingwood have made the bold decision to accelerate the move towards a new chapter. There is a chance they will be given the chance to add to their combined haul of 1,177 Test scalps in the summer if the new head coach wants them, but for now there is the very real prospect that they have reached an abrupt end.

As he pondered England’s opening options, Strauss may have cast a rueful glance at the long list of names who have tried and failed to take up the mantle he left behind a decade ago. England have never adequately replaced him, nor his old partner Sir Alastair Cook. Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed have both been moved on after desperate tours of Australia, while Zak Crawley has kept his place on potential as much as anything. That means Durham’s Alex Lees is the next man to get his chance. With no other openers included, Lees looks certain to play all three games in the Caribbean and, at the age of 28, he has seen enough ups and downs over the course of his career to know his own game. Perform well and he could lock down