Steve Smith is back in the Australian team for the second Test against the West Indies, which starts on July 3.
Pat Cummins announced Smith’s return at the National Cricket Stadium. Josh Inglis is out to make way for Smith.
Smith batted with a splint on Tuesday and was fine. Cummins said there was no reason to leave the 36-year-old out.
He’s good to go. His finger is fine. He felt good, especially when batting. He might need some help in the field so he might not be in the slips all the time. He might be okay for spin but he might need another week for the fast bowlers, Cummins said according to the ICC.
He might be running around a bit more…maybe at mid-off and fine leg. We’ll see if he lasts a few days at fine leg. I think he’ll want to get closer to the action pretty quickly, Cummins added.
Smith is the only change to the Australian team that won the first Test by 159 runs. The West Indies will name their team just before the toss.
The West Indies are considering adding another fast bowler to the team. Left-armer Anderson Phillip could play his third Test in Grenada, replacing spinner and vice-captain Jomel Warrican.
Kraigg Brathwaite is playing for the West Indies. He will be the 10th player to play 100 Tests for the West Indies.
Brathwaite has been a mainstay of the West Indies in Test cricket since his debut in 2011. Roston Chase praised Brathwaite’s long career.
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It’s a great achievement. He’s the third player from Barbados to do it, which is amazing. The last player to do it for the West Indies was Chris Gayle in 2014, so that says a lot about Kraigg. He’s a legend and someone I look up to. I’ve played with him since I was under 11, Chase said.
He said early in his career that he wanted to play 100 Tests. It’s an amazing achievement that he set a goal so early and reached it after so many years, the captain added.
Australia XI: Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Cameron Green, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Beau Webster, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.
West Indies: Roston Chase (c), Jomel Warrican (vc), Kevlon Anderson, Kraigg Brathwaite, John Campbell, Keacy Carty, Justin Greaves, Shai Hope, Tevin Imlach, Alzarri Joseph, Shamar Joseph, Brandon King, Johann Layne, Mikyle Louis, Anderson Phillip, Jayden Seales.
