England v West Indies: Roland-Jones recalled by hosts for series-deciding Test

Middlesex paceman returns to the side at his home ground Lord's, replacing Wawrickshire allrounder Chris Woakes.

Toby Roland-Jones, second right, excelled during his debut Test series against South Africa earlier in the summer. Jason Cairnduff / Reuters

England have recalled Toby Roland-Jones for the series-deciding third Test against the West Indies at Lord's, captain Joe Root said on Wednesday.

It is the only change to the side that suffered a surprise five-wicket defeat by the West Indies in the second Test at Headingley as the tourists levelled the three-match series at 1-1.

Roland-Jones, who made his debut in the recent home series win over South Africa, was omitted despite taking 14 wickets at under 20 apiece in his first three Tests and was replaced in Leeds by Chris Woakes, returning from a side strain.

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Now, however, the roles are reversed, with Roland-Jones coming back into the side at his home ground at the expense of Warwickshire allrounder Woakes, who had disappointing bowling match figures of 2-122 at Headingley.

"Home conditions, he obviously knows the surfaces and is bowling very well at the moment," Root said at Lord's when asked to explain the change in his line-up. "It's obviously very difficult to leave somebody like Chris out, he's been a consistent performer in Test cricket for England.

"But this is a team I think is going to win this week," star batsman Root added the day before Thursday's start. There's plenty of cricket to be played throughout the rest of this summer and he (Woakes) is a fantastic performer across all formats. I fully expect him to come back strong."

Root gave his backing to under pressure No 3 Tom Westley, who has managed just 19 runs in three innings this series.

"You speak as a batting group and as a team and you have conversations in the dressing room all the time and you want to make sure you are helping out where and when you can," Root said.

"Ultimately no one knows Tom's game like he does. He's a smart young man and he'll be desperate to prove a point and put some big runs on the board this week."

This match is England's last Test before they begin the defence of the Ashes in Australia in November.

Having seen his side pull clear of South Africa after the Proteas levelled a four-match series at 1-1, Root is confident England can respond in similar fashion at Lord's.

"Credit to the West Indies, they played very well last week, but we're a strong side and we've shown over the course of this summer and in the past that we've been able to come back from difficult weeks and this is another opportunity for us to do just that," Root said. "I thought we showed great character last week, coming back into the game after a poor start.

"We go into every game trying win. I know that sounds pretty obvious but you want good results in behind you going into a big series like that (the Ashes), but more importantly we want to make sure that we play well this week and win this series."