West Indies will host Australia in a first Test match of the series on 25th June at Bridgetown.
Match Preview:
West Indies and Australia will gear up against each other since that series where the former scripted historic victory against the latter at Gabba. If anything, that win still would be fresh in their mind and give them a boost to recreate history.
Beginning on June 25 in Barbados, the West Indies and Australia will play a two-match Test series to begin their ICC World Test Championship 2025–27 cycle. Australia entered this tournament after losing to South Africa at Lord’s in the WTC 2023–25 final. However, it was not until January 2025 that the West Indies last played Test cricket in Pakistan. The series ended in a 1-1 draw.
After Kraigg Brathwaite resigned, Roston Chase became the new head of WI. After more than two years, Chase returns to the scheme of things. In March 2023, he made his final appearance for WI in a Test match.
Despite participating in all three of the West Indies’ previous series, veteran Kemar Roach was completely omitted from the roster. Selectors held hard after dropping Joshua da Silva in Pakistan, therefore he was unable to receive a recall despite his Gabba heroics against Australia and his subsequent run-scoring rampage in the West Indies Championship. Only Brathwaite, Justin Greaves, and Jomel Warrican survived the previous Test match for the West Indies.
For Australia, Marnus Labuschagne was removed from the Australian team by the selectors. Due to an injury he sustained in the WTC final against South Africa, Steve Smith will miss the first Test. Both teams revealed their starting lineups before the first test.
This indicates that not a single batter from Australia’s 2015 Test match in the Caribbean, in which Smith scored 199 and 54 not out, is still in the team. The only other players that have participated in Test cricket in the Caribbean are Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, and Mitchell Starc.
In an effort to shift the team’s age distribution, Australia announced five days in advance that Sam Konstas and Josh Inglis will play in Barbados. However, they will only field two players under the age of thirty.
Playing XI:
West Indies: 1 Kriagg Brathwaite, 2 John Campbell, 3 Keacy Carty, 4 Brandon King, 5 Roston Chase (capt), 6 Shai Hope (wk), 7 Justin Greaves, 8 Jomel Warrican, 9 Alzarri Joseph, 10 Shamar Joseph, 11 Jayden Seales
Australia: 1 Usman Khawaja, 2 Sam Konstas, 3 Cameron Green, 4 Josh Inglis, 5 Travis Head, 6 Beau Webster, 7 Alex Carey (wk), 8 Pat Cummins (capt), 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Nathan Lyon, 11 Josh Hazlewood
Pitch and weather report:
Given that Kensington Oval has only held one Test in the previous six years and none in the previous three, it is rather unknown to both teams. Brathwaite batted for 710 minutes in the 2022 match, which ended in a draw and may have served as the impetus for England’s Bazball revolution. Despite being dried up, this surface had an intriguing appearance with a combination of bare spots and regions with more grass.
Only two totals above 300 in 12 completed innings were recorded in this season’s four-day Championship. The outlook is favorable for the majority of the game following some rain in the lead-up, with Saturday most likely to see thunderstorms and showers. Chase described it as a “typical” Barbados surface and anticipated a slow start followed by a possible pick-up in speed.
Head-to-head record:
A total of 120 games have been played between these sides with Australia winning 61 while 33 games have been won by West Indies.
Where to Watch:
West Indies: Disney+ platform.
Australia: Disney+ and Fetch TV.
Pakistan: Tapmad
India: Fancode
