West Indies have named their playing XI for the first Test against Australia, including a recall for wicketkeeper Shai Hope.
Shai Hope to play first Test since 2021, Brandon King to debut
On the eve of the first Test in Barbados, the hosts announced their playing XI for the first match under new skipper Roston Chase, who will also be playing his 50th Test.
The squad selected by new all-format head coach Daren Sammy saw several changes to the existing set-up, and naturally the playing XI as well. Only three players from West Indies' previous Test match in Pakistan – Kraigg Brathwaite, Justin Greaves and Jomel Warrican – find a spot in this XI.
Read more: West Indies head coach: Players averaging 35 seeming undroppable shows how poor our system is
Amir Jangoo, Kavem Hodge, Alick Athanaze, Kevin Sinclair, Gudakesh Motie and Kemar Roach were not selected in the 16-man squad, while Mikyle Louis and Tevin Imlach have been benched.
Instead, there is a recall for opening batter John Campbell, who scored three centuries in the most recent domestic season. His last Test came against Bangladesh in June 2022.
Also read: The strange case of Kemar Roach, the West Indies player/coach not playing or coaching
Perhaps more significantly, new white-ball captain Shai Hope has been called up for his first Test match in nearly four years, and will take the wicketkeeping gloves. Hope had been in the frame for Test captaincy as well, but requested the West Indies Cricket Board not to consider him.
Elsewhere, there is a Test debut for batter Brandon King. King has played 52 ODIs and 63 T20Is for West Indies since 2019, but this will be his first outing in the red-ball format. In this season's four-day Championship, he scored 242 runs at an average of 30.25 for Jamaica.
Australia skipper Pat Cummins also confirmed the visitors' lineup in the pre-match press conference, which features Cameron Green at No.3, as well as 19-year-old Sam Konstas opening the batting. Josh Inglis will bat at No.4.
West Indies vs Australia, first Test: Playing XIs
West Indies
- Roston Chase (c)
- John Campbell
- Keacy Carty
- Brandon King
- Kraigg Brathwaite
- Shai Hope (wk)
- Justin Greaves
- Alzarri Joseph
- Jomel Warrican
- Shamar Joseph
- Jayden Seales
Australia
- Usman Khawaja
- Sam Konstas
- Cameron Green
- Josh Inglis
- Travis Head
- Beau Webster
- Alex Carey (wk)
- Pat Cummins (c)
- Mitchell Starc
- Nathan Lyon
- Josh Hazlewood
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