England drop Keaton Jennings for second Test in Windies

England have dropped Keaton Jennings for the second Test against Windies and replaced him with uncapped opener Joe Denly as they seek to level the series.

Jennings, 26, has lost his place after scoring 17 and 14 in last week's 381-run defeat in Barbados - the left-hander averaging 25.86 in 16 Tests despite scoring 146no against Sri Lanka in November.

Kent right-hander Denly - who had but a watching brief in Sri Lanka - now has the remaining two Tests in the series to put his case for inclusion this summer, in which England will play a four-day Test against Ireland at Lord's before the Ashes gets underway at Edgbaston on August 1.

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Denly is included in a 12-man squad, confirmed by captain Joe Root, that also includes spinner Jack Leach and seamer Stuart Broad, who is back in the frame after being overlooked for the series opener.

Leg-spinner Adil Rashid, who went wicket-less in the defeat, is not in the squad and is due to fly home to be with his wife for the impending birth of their child.

Explaining Jennings' omission, Root said: "It's down to the fact that we are 1-0 down in this series and feel that we want to make a change.

"We want to change things up at the top of the order and be proactive in making sure that we find ways of winning this series.

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"One thing we did in Sri Lanka was make sure we didn't concentrate on what was happening six months down the line; we looked at the here and now.

"Having a very similar approach is very important; I don't think it's a panic selection. It has come down to getting us off to the best start possible.

"Keaton has worked extremely hard at his game and managing certain areas and I think that he will be back again, I really do.

"I think he's a fine player who will respond well to this and will come back and try to prove people wrong.

I don't think it is final for Keaton at all. I'm sure he'll go away, work on his game and keep looking to improve. I definitely don't think it's the end for him.

"It's a great opportunity for Joe, he's definitely got a chance to show what he's capable of. The beauty of his selection is he's very experienced at opening the batting and batting at three.

"He has prepared very well. Whenever you make your Test debut it's exciting, you are stepping into the unknown. There is always the challenge of getting your head around that.

"He has a little bit more experience than some guys may have when they start their career but having seen the attack in the last game he is roughly aware of that [Windies] will bring."

Broad and James Anderson - who have 1,003 Test wickets between them - could now be reunited in England's attack for the first time in five Tests.

Sam Curran took just one wicket and scored 31 runs in two innings in Barbados, but keeps his place in the squad.

"No-one likes being left out, especially someone as experienced as him," Root said of Broad. "I expect him to come back and try and prove a point.

"He's someone who can be quite stubborn sometimes and likes to prove people wrong. That's a very good strength of his and something that can work in our favour."

Leach has four Test caps to his name, taking 20 wickets at 25 runs apiece in those appearances, and Root said the Somerset spinner's inclusion in the squad offers the side a different balance.

"We've gone with Leach as a second spin option, depending on the surface, not because of performance throughout the last game but more because of the balance and how we want to approach things if we are going to play two spinners - having someone who can offer a bit more of a holding role," added the skipper.

"Adil's job when he plays for us is to come in and make things happen, use all of his tricks and to offer us a little bit of mystery.

"Adil is going to go home; his wife is expecting in the next week or so. I think it's important that he goes home and spends some time with his family and can enjoy that moment."

Windies expect wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich and paceman Shannon Gabriel to be fit for selection despite respective back and toe complaints.

"Shannon hurt his toe in Barbados but we expect to see him running in again," home skipper Jason Holder said of Gabriel, whose pace unsettled England in the first Test.

"It wasn't a surprise to see what he did, he's done it to many batsmen all over the world. He really carries pace. Shannon gave us momentum and really hit them hard."

England squad: Burns, Denly, Bairstow, Root, Buttler, Stokes, Moeen Ali, Foakes, S Curran, Broad, Anderson, Leach

Windies (probable): Campbell, Brathwaite, Hope, Bravo, Chase, Hetmyer, Dowrich, Holder, Joseph, Roach, Gabriel

Watch day one of the second Test between Windies and England, in Antigua, live on Sky Sports Cricket and Main Event from 1.30pm on Thursday. You can also follow over-by-over commentary and in-play clips on our rolling blog on skysports.com and the Sky Sports app.