The right-arm pacer Brendan Doggett has been ruled out of Australia’s upcoming Test series against the West Indies due to a hip injury. Doggett served as the travelling reserve for the World Test Championship (WTC) Final, was in line for a potential Test debut during the Caribbean tour. In his absence, Sean Abbott has been called up to the squad.
Doggett ended the 2024–25 domestic season on a high note, claiming match figures of 11 for 140 in the Sheffield Shield final for South Australia. His performance had put him in strong contention for a place in the playing XI for the West Indies series.
Abbott also uncapped in Tests, and has previously been part of Australia’s red-ball setup, including the Sri Lanka tour earlier this year and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2024/25. Australia are set to travel to Barbados in the middle of next week, ahead of the first Test starting on June 25. The series will also feature matches in Grenada and a day-night Test in Jamaica.
The left-arm spinner Matt Kuhnemann could potentially partner veteran Nathan Lyon, with two frontline quicks. Beau Webster also remains in the squad as an additional seamer all-rounder. The head coach, Andrew McDonald, acknowledged that the Caribbean conditions could present some unfamiliar challenges, and mentioned the squad was selected to ensure balance across all departments.
“What are we going to get in the Caribbean? We haven’t been there since 2016, so there’s a little bit of the unknown, but we feel as though we’ve got a squad that can cover all bases,” said McDonald.
Smith ruled out due to finger injury
Australian Test great Steven Smith dislocated a finger on the third day of play at Lord’s while putting his availability for the opening Test against the West Indies in doubt. He is expected to wear a splint for eight weeks but could resume batting in about two weeks, depending on the recovery.
“It just split the skin and dislocated it, which made me feel pretty ill at that stage. I think in a splint for eight weeks now and may be able to play with it in a couple of weeks, so it’ll depend on my functionality and what I’m able to do, but it’s probably the best result I could have hoped for,” Smith told ICC.
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