ENG v WI 2020: Test series stats preview 

After a 117-day hiatus, international cricket will finally return when England take on West Indies at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton. The two teams kickstart the return of the sport in unprecedented times for cricket all over the globe.

The Three Lions will hope to regain the Wisden Trophy this summer as they lost it last summer in the Carribean, with a scoreline of 2-1.

Both teams played practice matches within their squad which will aid them in finalizing playing XIs. While the Caribbean side has a few concerns with their batting order, England is a much more settled side, although regular captain Joe Root will miss the clash due to the birth of his child. All-rounder Ben Stokes will be the skipper in his absence with Jos Buttler being his deputy.

England will miss services of star batsman Root, and will hope Pope fills in his shoes. Earlier this year, Pope scored a double century in South Africa as England won the series against the Proteas away from home and will be high on confidence from that performance.

On the other hand, the visitors' strength is also fast bowling as Jason Holder, Shannon Gabriel and Kemar Roach are sure-shot starters. It will be interesting to see who takes the 4th bowler's spot as Chemar Holder, Alzarri Joseph and Rakhem Cornwall are all in the reckoning. The Jason Holder-led side have to decide whether they play the 4th pacer and play Roston Chase as the lone spinner or go with Cornwall. With Darren Bravo not in the squad, West Indies will bank on relatively inexperienced players like Sharmarh Brooks and Jermaine Blackwood to play well in the tough English conditions.

Ahead of the much-awaited 1st Test, here are some numbers to look forward to and some milestones that the players may reach in the 3-match test series.

ENG v WI records

1 - The last time West Indies toured England, Shai Hope became the first player to score 100s in each innings at Leeds.

1 - West Indies will be playing their first ever test at the Rose Bowl, Southampton.

8 - It has been 8 years since the West Indies openers had a 1st wicket century partnership.

2 - Out of the 3 matches England have played at the Rose Bowl, they have been unbeaten so far, winning 2 and drawing the other.

32 - West Indies last won a Test series in England way back in 1988, 32 years ago.

ENG v WI approaching milestones

5 - James Anderson needs five more wickets to become England's leading wicket-taker against West Indies surpassing Fred Trueman's tally of 86 wickets.

5 - English fast bowler Chris Woakes needs 5 more wickets to reach 100 Test wicket mark.

7 - Anderson has 93 catches to his name in Test cricket, and he will reach 100 catches if he 7 more catches in the Wisden Trophy 2020.

7 - Kemar Roach has taken 193 wickets in tests and needs 7 more to reach the 200-mark. He will become the 10th Caribbean bowler to achieve this feat.

16 - James Anderson needs 16 wickets more to reach 600 test wickets. When he achieves this feat, he will become the first fast bowler in the history of the game to reach the milestone of 600 wickets.

102 - Jason Holder is currently on 1898 test runs and needs 102 more runs to reach the milestone of 2000 test runs. With 106 wickets to his name in the longest format, he can become the 3rd West Indian after Carl Hooper and Sir Garfield Sobers, to achieve the combination of 2000 runs and 100 wickets.