Australia vs West Indies, 1st Test: Playing 11 of Aussies, Windies for the Perth Test; Hazlewood returns

The
Playing
11
for
Australia’s
first
home
Test
of
the
summer
contains
no
major
surprises,
with
Cummins
confirming
one
change
from
the
team
that
played
in
the
most
recent
Test
match
in
Sri
Lanka.

Spinner
Mitchell
Swepson
was
replaced
by
experienced
seamer
Josh
Hazlewood,
who
was
dropped
after
Australia’s
humiliating
loss
to
Sri
Lanka
in
Galle
in
July.

Swepson
took
3/103
in
that
match,
but
the
29-year-old
was
not
selected
for
the
West
Indies
series
as
Australia
reverted
to
their
standard
line-up
of
three
seamers
and
one
spinner.

Veteran
openers
David
Warner
and
Usman
Khawaja
remain
at
the
top
of
Australia’s
batting
order,
with
left-hander
Marcus
Harris
missing
out
despite
being
called
up
for
the
series.

The
series
against
the
West
Indies
is
critical
for
Australia’s
chances
of
reaching
the
World
Test
Championship
final
next
year,
with
Cummins’ side
currently
leading
the
standings
ahead
of
a
busy
upcoming
schedule.

Following
the
West
Indies
series,
Australia
will
host
South
Africa
for
three
Tests
before
embarking
on
a
four-Test
series
in
India
that
could
decide
their
World
Test
Championship
fortunes.

Australia
will
play
their
first
match
of
the
series
against
West
Indies
on
December
4
at
the
Perth
Stadium
while
the
second
and
final
match
of
the
two-match
series
will
take
place
on
December
8-12
at
the
Adelaide
Oval.

Australia
currently
claimed
second
place
on
the
ICC
World
Test
Championship
standings
and
the
West
Indies
series
is
the
first
of
three
to
ultimately
determine
their
fate.

Cummins
defends
players

Cummins,
speaking
ahead
of
the
first
Test
against
the
West
Indies,
insisted
there
was
no
“ill
will”
towards
Justin
Langer.

Langer
criticised
anonymous
“cowards”
who
leaked
information
against
him
during
his
time
as
Australia
coach,
when
speaking
to
the
Back
Chat
podcast
which
was
released
last
week.

The
ex-Australian
opener,
who
ultimately
resigned
from
the
role
in
February
after
only
being
offered
a
short-term
extension,
had
tried
to
backtrack
from
those
comments,
stating
the
players
were
“like
my
younger
brothers”.

Cummins
moved
to
defend
his
teammates
but
reiterated
there
were
no
hard
feelings
with
Langer.

“There’s
no
cowards
in
an
Australian
cricket
team,
not
ever,”
Cummins
told
reporters.
“I’d
probably
never
disclose
private
conversations.

“I
think
it’s
disappointing
sometimes
the
focus
gets
drawn
to
off-field
issues
but
it
hasn’t
really
affected
our
team.”

Cummins
added:
“I
think
there’s
no
ill
will
to
what
he
was
trying
to
do
and
he
clarified
afterwards.

“I
think
he
had
a
think
about
it
and
clarified
it,
so
thank
him
for
that.
But
we’re
really
proud
of
the
last
12
months,
how
we’ve
fronted
up,
the
way
we’ve
played,
the
way
we’ve
conducted
ourselves.
Players
can
certainly
hold
their
heads
high.

Australia
Playing
11:
1
David
Warner,
2
Usman
Khawaja,
3
Marnus
Labuschagne,
4
Steve
Smith,
5
Travis
Head,
6
Cameron
Green,
7
Alex
Carey,
8
Pat
Cummins
(captain),
9
Mitchell
Starc,
10
Josh
Hazlewood,
11
Nathan
Lyon.

West
Indies
playing
11
(Predicted):
1
Kraigg
Brathwaite
(captain),
2
Shamarh
Brooks,
3
Nkrumah
Bonner,
4
Jermaine
Blackwood,
5
Kyle
Mayers
/
Tagnarine
Chanderpaul,
6
Roston
Chase,
7
Joshua
Da
Silva,
8
Jason
Holder,
9
Alzarri
Joseph,
10
Kemar
Roach,
11
Jayden
Seales.