England v West Indies: T20 series 'a long time coming' - Nat Sciver

England women will play their first international match since March when they face West Indies in the opening T20 of a five-match series on Monday.

Neither side has played since they met before the coronavirus pandemic at the T20 World Cup in Australia.

The first game takes place at 18:00 BST behind closed doors at the Incora County Ground, Derby.

"It has been a long time coming and everyone is ready to go," England all-rounder Natalie Sciver said.

England beat West Indies by 46 runs in their most recent meeting in Sydney.

England have a good record against the 2016 T20 world champions at home, having won five of the six matches.

"It's been a long time since we played together as a group in an international, but it'll be good to get back together on the pitch," Sciver said.

"We have been together for what feels like a while now and it has been good to train as much as we did with the big group."

Sciver is the third-ranked T20 all-rounder in the world and is aiming to take the top spot from New Zealand's Sophie Devine.

Sciver was England's leading run-scorer in the recent T20 World Cup and has taken 58 wickets in 75 matches.

"Being a senior player comes with certain responsibility, and I think I play better when I've got a bit of responsibility," she added.

"It's been a good journey. I'm trying to be a game-changer in any format."

Both teams will wear the Black Lives Matter logo on their shirts and take a knee before the game.

"We are a team of diverse women and we know what it is to be judged based on the colour of our skin," West Indies captain Stafanie Taylor said.

"Sport is the single unifying factor regardless of nationality, race or religion.

"We as athletes and cricketers must use our platform to help bring about that dialogue and change."

England and West Indies men also knelt before the start of play in their three-Test series.

"The team and the staff have had conversations about it and we feel very strongly about supporting Black Lives Matter," England head coach Lisa Keightley said.

"We want to do our bit, even though it is a very small bit, to show we want to see things change in cricket and around the world."

Alison Mitchell, BBC TV and Test Match Special commentator

Sophie Ecclestone (Eng): A left-arm spinner with incredible control and economy, and the youngest woman to have taken 50 international T20 wickets. She's also the number one T20 bowler in the world.

Deandra Dottin (WI): Despite a poor T20 World Cup, with just 12 runs in three innings, she is still the batter every team fears because of her destructive power. She nearly gave up the game when she struggled to rehab after shoulder surgery in 2019.

Natalie Sciver (Eng): Her team's power-hitting all-rounder, she will come on as a change bowler looking to take wickets with swing and seam. When she's batting, keep an eye out for her 'Natmeg' shot...

Hayley Matthews (WI): Matthews shot to fame as an 18-year-old, with a match-winning 66 in the World Twenty20 final in 2016. A classy bat who bowls off-spin, she is highly sought after in the global T20 leagues.