Stuart Broad will miss his first home England Test since 2012 after being left out against West Indies at the Rose Bowl.
The return of international cricket, put on hold since March because of the coronavirus pandemic, was further delayed by rain in Southampton on Wednesday.
However, conditions eventually allowed for the two captains - Ben Stokes and Jason Holder - to emerge for the coin toss, which England won with Stokes electing to bat.
Stand-in captain Stokes, taking the place of Joe Root - missing the match to attend the birth of his second child - confirmed the omission of seam bowler Broad for the first of three behind-closed-doors Tests.
MORE: Root tells stand-in skipper Stokes to 'do it your way'
All-rounder Chris Woakes was also left out, with England opting for the pace of Jofra Archer and Mark Wood alongside the swing of James Anderson.
"Very, very tough decision with [leaving out] Broad and Woakes but we feel with Woody and Jofra's pace it adds another dimension," Stokes said.
"There was a lot of disappointment around but they took it like champions."
Holder, meanwhile, elected to go with four pace bowlers, with Alzarri Joseph, Kemar Roach and Shannon Gabriel joining the all-rounder in the attack.
Rahkeem Cornwall missed out, Holder picking Roston Chase as his spin option.
The start of play was rescheduled for 2:00pm (local time).