Australia make late change to Test squad for West Indies tour
Brendan Doggett has returned home after sustaining a minor hip injury
Australia have made a late change to their Test squad for the upcoming three-match series in the Caribbean, with experienced pacer Sean Abbott replacing the injured Brendan Doggett.
Doggett, who was the travelling reserve for the recent World Test Championship (WTC) final, has returned home after sustaining a minor hip injury.
The 31-year-old, uncapped at Test level, was due to be part of the squad following an outstanding domestic season where he recorded the best-ever match figures in a Sheffield Shield final—11 for 140—to help South Australia end a long title drought.
He had also been included in the squad for last summer's second Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test, marking his return to national contention for the first time since 2018.
The 33-year-old now rejoins the squad having last featured in Australia’s Test setup during the tour of Sri Lanka earlier this year. The right-arm quick enjoyed a strong finish to the domestic season, taking 6 for 99 in his final first-class match for New South Wales in March.
He finished the Shield campaign with 19 wickets at an average of 21.94 from just three matches. His only appearance since has been in the Pakistan Super League, representing Quetta Gladiators.
Meanwhile, Australia could still face further squad reshuffles as they monitor the fitness of star batter Steve Smith, who dislocated his right little finger during the WTC final against South Africa.
The injury, which occurred while fielding at slip, does not require surgery, but Smith will wear a splint for up to eight weeks. The wound is expected to heal within two weeks, raising hopes he could still feature during the tour.
"Fortunately, there's no break there, it just split the skin, which dislocated it and made me feel pretty ill at that stage," Smith said at Lord's after the WTC final.
"But in a splint for eight weeks now and I may be able to play with it in a couple of weeks.
"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."
Head coach Andrew McDonald confirmed the team would assess Smith’s ability to bat with the splint before making any further squad decisions.
"If Steve wasn't available for the first Test match, that would lend itself to having extra batting coverage," he said.
"Because if we lost another player, then we'd be short in terms of what we had on the bench and available."
Young opener Sam Konstas and wicketkeeper-batter Josh Inglis—who scored a century on debut against Sri Lanka earlier this year—are the two reserve batters in the squad who did not feature in the WTC final.
For the unversed, the first Test against the West Indies begins on June 25 in Bridgetown, Barbados.
Australia Test squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Matt Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster
Australia's Test Tour of West Indies Schedule:
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