Graphic: five-day forecast for Lord's

In any culture - sporting, business or otherwise - fresh faces are an essential part of the process of renewal. The best teams and the best coaches manage this transformation seamlessly, but, as Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsène Wenger have shown, manage it they must if triumphs are to become self-sustaining rather than isolated orgies of self-congratulation.

For too long England have been living on the Ashes success of 2005 and for too long such navel-gazing has been indulged by those responsible for selecting the England team. While it has been obvious to those accompanying the team over the past few years that too many players have been, to be frank, taking the mickey - gratefully accepting rewards in return for too little - nothing has been done to expose this basic fraudulence.

With the arrival of Andy Flower at the helm as England's new team director, a cricketer at whom the accusation of bluffing could never be levelled, those days are over.

Watching England prepare feverishly yesterday at Lord's and watching new boys such as Graham Onions and Tim Bresnan was to feel relieved that, even if their talent does not match up to those they have replaced, the basic ingredients for producing a competitive force at the highest level - commitment and wholehearted endeavour - have again become an essential requirement to be selected as an England player.

For Andrew Strauss, fresh from receiving the England Player of the Year award on Monday evening after a barnstorming year with the blade, it was impossible to think that he would not have been buoyed by what he saw at practice and by the inevitable feelings of nervous enthusiasm that new faces bring to any dressing-room. Strauss has achieved everything he has in the game by maximising his talent and he is excited at the prospect of moulding a team in his image.

“The attitude and the environment are both fantastic at the moment,” he said at Lord's yesterday as he prepared for the first npower Test against West Indies that starts today and for a summer that will test his nerve to the full.

“And that is one advantage of having a few new players come in. You share their exuberance and those of us who've been around for a while get reminded again of what a massive thing it is to play for England. The excitement on their faces rubs off on the rest of us, so for a starting point for the summer it feels good, but we are all aware that you only maintain that by playing well.”

Green shoots are everywhere at the moment and certainly the Lord's pitch was tinged with green yesterday, which makes it all the more likely that Onions and Bresnan will play. Chris Gayle, the West Indies captain, quipped that he had never even tasted onions, never mind seen him bowl, but the four left-handers in the touring team's top six should be wary, lest England's new boy induces some unwanted tears because, from his delivery close to the stumps, Onions enjoys bowling at southpaws.

Most excitement, though, will be reserved for someone who can be classed only as a relative new boy: Ravi Bopara. Strauss talked in glowing terms about his new No3, about his talent, his temperament and his character, and declared his utter faith in Bopara's ability to cement his place. It should be a fascinating contest when Bopara gets his chance because the West Indies bowlers will not have forgotten his casual attitude to the short ball in Barbados, where the right-hander scored his maiden Test hundred.

How far Gayle will have determined the bowlers' plans to Bopara and others is a moot point, given his minimal preparation time for this Test, which has vexed John Dyson, the West Indies coach. There is, in these quarters, marginally more sympathy for Gayle than there was for Daniel Vettori, the New Zealand captain, this time last year because this two-Test series is not part of the Future Tours Programme and Gayle's contract to play for Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League (IPL) predated the West Indies Cricket Board's agreement to replace Sri Lanka as England's opponents.

Nevertheless, Gayle's last-minute arrival makes a mockery of Test cricket as a showcase for the best players properly prepared and primed, and of captaincy in general. West Indies have looked a bit of a shower on tour so far, highlighted by their ten-wicket mauling at the hands of England Lions, and it would take a huge leap of imagination to imagine that Gayle can turn things around simply by turning up on the eve of a match.

Strauss intimated that such an attitude would be a step too far for England, who, nevertheless, have players who have put themselves under extra pressure by opting to play in the IPL at the start of the season. Paul Collingwood, in particular, will be keen to start the international season well because he has not played a competitive match since April 3.

Collingwood is experienced enough at dealing with personal pressure to hope that he can put his lack of match practice behind him. Strauss was pleased that those who had stayed behind to gather some first-class form, either out of necessity or, in Stuart Broad's case, desire, had shown their colleagues in the county game the difference between first-class and international-standard cricket.

Certainly, Anderson and Onions are in prime wicket-taking form and Strauss, himself, chock-full of runs. West Indies, meanwhile, are short of form collectively and individually and while the winter series showed the folly of taking them lightly, they ought to be dispatched during the next five days in conditions that will be alien to some of their younger players.

England (from): A J Strauss (Middlesex, captain), A N Cook (Essex), R S Bopara (Essex), K P Pietersen (Hampshire), P D Collingwood (Durham), M J Prior (Sussex), S C J Broad (Nottinghamshire), G P Swann (Nottinghamshire), T T Bresnan (Yorkshire), J M Anderson (Lancashire), G Onions (Durham), M S Panesar (Northamptonshire).

West Indies (from): C H Gayle (captain), D S Smith, R R Sarwan, L M P Simmons, S Chanderpaul, B P Nash, D Ramdin, J E Taylor, S J Benn, F H Edwards, L S Baker, D J G Sammy, D M Richards, D E Bernard, N T Pascal.

Umpires: S J Davis (Australia) and E A R de Silva (Sri Lanka).

Third umpire: I J Gould.

Match referee: A J Pycroft (Zimbabwe).

Television: Live coverage on Sky Sports 1 from 10am; highlights on Five, 7.15pm-8pm.

Series detail: Second Test: May 14 (Riverside).