Australia have announced their playing XI for the first Test against West Indies at Kensington Oval, in Barbados. The Pat Cummins-led side recently suffered a defeat to South Africa in the World Test Championship (WTC) at Lord’s, and will be hoping to bounce back and start the new cycle with a win. Ahead of that, they have suffered a massive setback, as former captain Steve Smith was ruled out of the match.
The 36-year-old injured his hand while fielding in the WTC final. He had to leave the field immediately, and the cricketer might need some more time to recover from the injury. In his absence, Josh Inglis will be batting at number four. In an interesting development, the team management also dropped Marnus Labuschagne from the first Test.
His form was a massive concern in the longest format. The cricketer was on the verge of being dropped in the WTC final, but the team management decided to hand him another opportunity. In the game, the 31-year-old made 17 and 22 runs in two innings as Australia lost by five wickets.
“Marnus at his best can be a really important member of this team. He understands his output hasn't been at the level we, or he, expects. We will continue working with him on the areas of his game we feel he needs to rediscover. We continue to value his skill and expect him to work through the challenge positively,” Chief Selector George Bailey had said in a statement.
Cameron Green will be replacing him at number three in the first Test against West Indies - the same he did in the WTC final when Labuschagne played as an opener. Young batter Sam Konstas will be opening in the first Test against Usman Khawaja. Apart from the two changes, Australia have named the same squad for the Barbados Test.
Australia playing XI:
Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis, Travis Head, Beau Webster, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood