Alick Athanaze and Keacy Carty powered West Indies to clinch a four-wicket win against England in the final match of the series at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown on Saturday.
Seven players Rehan Ahmed, Gus Atkinson, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Ben Duckett, Matthew Potts and Josh Tongue receive an England Central Contract offer for the first time.
"This is just the tip of the iceberg, I believe. It is a relatively young team, some of the guys haven't played a lot of Test cricket - Harry Brook, Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley can all still improve. England will get better, tweak things along the way. I am looking forward to seeing them in
They have become the most successful opening pair for England since the days of Alastair Cook and Andrew Strauss, which disbanded when Strauss retired in 2012. England has notably tried many openers since Strauss's retirement and later Cook's retirement in 2018. These openers include Jason R
Smith's 'Player of the Match' effort of 110 and 34 have lifted him four places to the second position. Smith was last at the top in June 2021, when he replaced Williamson for a couple of weeks before being overtaken again by the New Zealand batter.
Ben Stokes' incredible knock of 155 runs couldn't secure the win for his side as Australian bowlers bounced and won the 2nd Ashes Test by 43 runs at the Lord's Cricket Ground on Sunday.