Australia announce playing XI for second Test against West Indies

GRENADA: Cricket Australia (CA) on Thursday unveiled their playing XI for the upcoming second Test against the West Indies, scheduled to take place at the National Cricket Stadium in St George's.

The squad features one change, with veteran batter and former captain Steve Smith returning from injury.

Meanwhile, the West Indies have opted to finalise their lineup at the toss.

Smith, who missed the first Test due to a finger injury, has recovered and replaces Josh Inglis in the starting XI. 

Australia captain Pat Cummins confirmed the change on the eve of the match at the National Cricket Stadium.

"He's ready to go, the finger held up well," Cummins said. "He was really happy, particularly with his batting." 

"He was really happy, particularly batting.

"Fielding we still potentially need to manage it a little bit, so he might not be in the slips too often – maybe for spin he'll be OK, but (for the) quicks he might need to wait another week.

"So you might see him running around a bit more … probably some variation of mid-off and fine leg, (but) we'll see if he lasts a few days down at fine leg, I reckon he'll be itching to get up in the circle pretty quick."

The 36-year-old batted without discomfort during training on Tuesday while wearing a splint and was declared fit to return. His inclusion is the only change to the Australian side that secured a dominant 159-run win in the first Test.

As for the West Indies, they are weighing the option of adding an extra seamer. Left-arm pacer Anderson Phillip could make his third Test appearance, possibly replacing vice-captain and spinner Jomel Warrican.

One confirmed selection for the Caribbean side is veteran opener Kraigg Brathwaite, who is set to become just the 10th West Indian cricketer to reach the milestone of 100 Test appearances. 

Since debuting in 2011, Brathwaite has been a consistent presence in the red-ball setup.

West Indies skipper Roston Chase praised Brathwaite’s achievement, saying, "It's an amazing feat, he's the third Bajan player to do it so that's tremendous in itself."

"The last guy to do it (for West Indies) was Chris Gayle in 2014, so it says a lot for Kraigg.

"He's a modern-day legend and someone I look up to – I've played with him from under-11s.

"He stated before starting his career that he wanted to play 100 Tests so that's an amazing achievement that someone can set a goal from so early and achieve it after so many years."

Australia XI for second Test: Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Cameron Green, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Beau Webster, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood