England paceman Chris Woakes says he can thrive in the West Indies

Chris Woakes smiles at his new status as the leader of an inexperienced England bowling attack, charged with conquering the West Indies minus their two champion bowlers.

‘When someone says you’re the senior bowler it basically means you’re getting old, doesn’t it?’ says the man who turns 33 just before England’s first Test next month. ‘But when I look at the guys who haven’t been picked I know I’ll have to step up and be a leader. The best way to lead will be to perform in the West Indies.’

Those guys who have not been selected are, of course, Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad, two of the greatest in England’s history controversially left out by Sir Andrew Strauss and his selection panel at the start of the post-Ashes red ball reset.

That leaves Woakes as the big bowling survivor from Strauss’s Ashes cull, perhaps as surprised as anyone to find himself heading to the Caribbean for a three-Test tour with added responsibility.

‘I didn’t have a great Ashes trip with the ball and I had no reason to expect to be selected for West Indies,’ Woakes admits to Sportsmail at Edgbaston. ‘I was looking over my shoulder as to whether I would effectively keep my job, make the next tour.

‘So I was thinking about my own situation more than Jimmy and Broady and it came as a big surprise when they were left out. But do I think it’s the end for them? A thousand per cent not. I’m sure they’ll play this summer.’

With the absence of the big two comes opportunity for others, notably a Warwickshire all-rounder name-checked by Strauss as one he expects much from at the start of this new dawn.

‘It does give me the chance to show what I can do, particularly away from home,’ says Woakes. ‘My record suggests I’m very good at home but not so good away.