Zafar Ansari and Mark Wood could be beneficiaries of the uncertainty around an England Test squad whose reputation has been left in tatters by the World Cup. Question marks remain over the fitness of Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes ahead of Wednesday’s naming of the party for a three-Test series against the West Indies that Peter Moores desperately needs to win if he is to remain England coach. Moeen and Woakes were injured towards the end of England’s disastrous World Cup campaign and are far from certain of being fit ahead of the first Test in Antigua on April 13 that follows two warm-up games in St Kitts. Zafar Ansari could be named as part of the England squad ahead of the three-Test series against West Indies . The 23-year-old is an all-rounder who bowls left-arm orthodox spin and opens the batting for Surrey . The 23-year-old Zafar Ansari is an all-rounder who bowls left-arm orthodox spin and opens the batting for Surrey. IS HE ANY GOOD? Just ask Kevin Pietersen! So often a victim of left-arm spin, the former England batsman was dismissed by a 19-year-old Ansari as Cambridge University beat Surrey by 10 wickets in 2011. Ansari has 54 first-class wickets and a batting average of 30.16. ANYTHING ELSE I NEED TO KNOW? Ansari would probably be among the smarter cricketers in England’s tour party, having studied politics at Cambridge. He admits he is often ribbed by his team-mates for having a crossword out in the dressing room. That means Surrey’s left-arm spin-bowling all-rounder Ansari and Durham pace bowler Wood could be named to travel with the squad as cover for Moeen and Woakes in the early days of the month-long tour. Ansari, 23, is predominantly a batsman and topped 1,000 championship runs last season but is perhaps the nearest equivalent to Moeen on the circuit. Wood impressed England’s outgoing fast bowling coach David Saker during a training camp in South Africa before Christmas and only fitness concerns have held the 25-year-old back from full international recognition. It seems certain that Jonathan Trott, now returned to full fitness after leaving England’s last Ashes tour with a condition later diagnosed as situational anxiety, will return after a successful tour of South Africa as Lions captain. England’s Test middle order is settled following the success of Gary Ballance, Joe Root and Ian Bell in the three successive victories over India last summer, leaving Trott to battle Sam Robson to become Alastair Cook’s opening partner. Mark Wood (centre) could also be included in England's test squad to face the West Indies . Question marks remain over the fitness of Moeen Ali (pictured) ahead of the Test series . Peter Moores desperately needs England to defeat the West Indies if he is to remain coach . Cook, sacked as one-day captain on the brink of the World Cup, returns to action for MCC against Yorkshire in Abu Dhabi starting on Sunday and will then seek to build on the progress made by England in Test cricket last summer. Jonny Bairstow, one of the casualties of the fall-out from the last Ashes, is favourite to tour as reserve wicketkeeper ahead of Kent’s exciting Sam Billings, while Adil Rashid and James Tredwell will compete for the other spin place. Rashid, a more mature performer than when he was thrust into the England squad prematurely in 2009, looked a certainty to tour until he bowled poorly for the Lions in South Africa and may now be pipped by the more reliable Tredwell. Such is the desperate state of English cricket after the World Cup that the pressure will be on not just Moores but also managing director Paul Downton when England take on a West Indies side who look sure to be weakened by the Indian Premier League. Chris Gayle, for one, is likely to retire from international cricket after the World Cup and West Indies should be even more vulnerable than England. Cook (Essex, capt), Robson (Middlesex), Ballance (Yorkshire), Bell (Warwickshire), Root (Yorkshire), Moeen (Worcestershire) or Ansari (Surrey), Buttler (Lancashire), Woakes (Warwickshire) or Wood (Durham), Jordan (Sussex), Broad (Nottinghamshire), Anderson (Lancashire), Trott (Warwickshire), Bairstow (Yorkshire), Plunkett (Yorkshire), Rashid (Yorkshire) or Tredwell (Kent).
Surrey all-rounder Zafar Ansari could be set for an England call-up . Durham fast bowler Mark Wood could also be included . Peter Moores under pressure following poor World Cup . Squad for three-Test series set to be announced on Wednesday .