Due to a hip injury, right-arm pacer Brendan Doggett will not play in Australia’s forthcoming Test series against the West Indies. Brendan Doggett was in position for a possible Test debut during the Caribbean tour and was the travelling reserve for the World Test Championship (WTC) Final. Sean Abbott has been called up to the team in his place.
Brendan Doggett had a strong finish to the 2024–25 domestic season, finishing with 11 for 140 in the Sheffield Shield final for South Australia.
Due to his performance, he was in a great position to be included in the West Indies series playing XI.
Abbott has played in Australia’s red-ball system before, including during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2024–2025 and the Sri Lanka tour earlier this year. He is also uncapped in Test matches. In the middle of next week, Australia will visit Barbados in preparation for the first Test, which begins on June 25. Grenada matches and a day-night Test in Jamaica will also be part of the series.
With two frontline quicks, Matt Kuhnemann, a left-arm spinner, might be paired with Nathan Lyon, a seasoned player. Beau Webster, another seamer-all-arounder, is still in the team. The team was chosen to maintain balance in every department, although head coach Andrew McDonald admitted that the Caribbean environment would bring some new difficulties.
“What can we expect from the Caribbean? There is some uncertainty because we haven’t been there since 2016, but we believe we have a team that can cover any scenario,” McDonald said.
Smith’s finger injury has ruled him out.
On the third day of play at Lord’s, Australian Test great Steven Smith dislocated a finger, casting question on his availability for the first Test match against the West Indies. Depending on how quickly he recovers, he may be able to return to batting in two weeks after wearing a splint for eight weeks.
“I felt quite sick at the time since it simply split and dislocated the skin. It’s probably the best outcome I could have asked for, Smith told ICC, “but I’ve been in a splint for eight weeks now and might be able to play with it in a couple of weeks, so it will depend on my functionality and what I can do.”
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