WEST Indies will begin their tour of England without captain Chris Gayle, pacemen Fidel Edwards and Jerome Taylor and batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul.

Gayle and Edwards are playing in the Indian Premier League and are set to join the squad on May 2, just four days before the first Test at Lord’s.

Chanderpaul and Taylor are recovering from minor injuries but will arrive in time for the second tour match.

West Indies take on Leicestershire in a three-day match starting today.

Their second warm-up match is against Essex, also over three days, from Saturday, and the tourists’ final preparation game is against England Lions at Derby in a four-day fixture.

Denesh Ramdin is stand-in skipper until Gayle’s arrival and coach John Dyson gave the young wicketkeeper a glowing reference.

“He is an experienced cricketer now and I think this will do his cricket the world of good,” said Dyson.

“It will give him the responsibility to lead the team and test out his captaincy skills. I am not worried at all.”

England, who name their squad for the first Test on April 29, will be desperate to reclaim the Wisden Trophy they unexpectedly lost in the Caribbean in the winter.

The individuals picked in new team director Andy Flower’s first squad will also be anxious to make an impression ahead of the Ashes series.

“I think we caught England on the hop in the West Indies,” added Dyson, reflecting on his side’s recent 1-0 Test series win. “I think they came out thinking they were just going to have a net and just get ready for the Ashes.

“Hopefully they are still in that frame of mind and we might just catch them on the hop again. Who knows? They got caught being a little bit too complacent in the West Indies. I don’t think they will be that complacent again.

“I think they will be out for revenge. It is our challenge to make sure that they don’t get it in the return series over here.”

On the same day Dyson spoke to reporters in Leicester, Edwards was bowling at Gayle in Cape Town – in the first over of Kolkata Knight Riders’ innings against Deccan Chargers. (BBC Sport)