Australia batting first after winning toss in Perth

Session times AEDT: 1.20pm-3.20pm | 4pm-6pm | 6.20pm-8.20pm

Australia's reunited veteran openers David Warner and Usman Khawaja will have the responsibility of handling a fiery West Indies pace attack on a green Perth Stadium pitch prepared for the NRMA Insurance Test series opener.

Captain Pat Cummins won the toss and backed in his top-order by electing to bat first, raising some eyebrows given the considerable grass covering on the surface and the expectation it will assist fast bowlers.

Australia had already confirmed their XI on match eve, with Cummins suggesting it had been a short selection meeting to settle on a side that sees an experienced quartet of bowlers matched with a settled top seven.

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Australia XI: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitch Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.

West Indies XI:  Kraigg Brathwaite (c), Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Nkrumah Bonner, Jermaine Blackwood, Kyle Mayers, Jason Holder, Joshua Da Silva (wk), Roston Chase, Alzarri Joseph, Kemar Roach, Jayden Seales.

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"You probably could have picked it 12 months ago," said the 29-year-old skipper, who is one wicket away from reaching the 200 Test wicket mark.

It will be a hot start to the Test season, also featuring three Tests against South Africa after the two against the Windies in Perth and Adelaide, with temperatures forecast to be around 35 degrees for Wednesday's first day.

West Indies, who have had a number of fitness concerns leading into their first Test in Australia in seven years, have selected Tagenarine Chanderpaul to make his Test debut, with the son of Windies great Shivnarine to open the batting with captain Kraigg Brathwaite.

Brathwaite is in the unique position of having played with Shivnarine during the later stages of his career and will now open in a Test with his son.

"It's remarkable for him," Brathwaite said of the younger Chanderpaul, who scored a century in the Windies' tour match against the Prime Minister's XI last week and was presented with his cap by Windies legend Brian Lara.

"Obviously (Shivnarine) was a great, so it's not shocking that he has a son that is playing. Tag will do a fantastic job and let's hope he could even do greater things like his father did."

The visitors have flown allrounder Raymond Reifer home having suffered a tour-ending groin injury during the PM's XI match.

Thankfully for the Windies however both Jermaine Blackwood, who suffered a nasty blow the helmet in training on Monday from a beamer, and Jayden Seales, who had a knee complaint, have been passed fit.

The 21-year-old Seales rounds out a strong pace bowling group for the Windies, with star quick Alzarri Joseph along with experienced duo Kemar Roach and Jason Holder seemingly holding the hopes of the tourists being competitive in this series.

Their first assignment will be to dismiss Warner and Khawaja, who come into the match having not opened in first-class cricket since Australia's most recent Test in Sri Lanka.

Warner has been busy with white-ball cricket since that tour, while Khawaja, a Test-only player who has been in dominant touch since earning a recall during last summer's Ashes, has been batting at No.4 for the Queensland Sheffield Shield side he captains.

Khawaja, who is averaging 40.60 with three fifties from five innings in the middle order for the Bulls, dismissed suggestions it was not suitable preparation given his role in the Test side as an opener.

"Does it really matter? I don't think so," Khawaja, who is averaging nearly 100 in Tests this year, said this week. "David Warner hasn't played a red-ball game in six months – why isn't anyone talking about that?

"A lot of players have played white-ball cricket and haven't played red ball cricket. It doesn't make a difference either way.

"I just do whatever's best for the team in Queensland, I told that to (coach) Andrew McDonald. We have about seven openers in Queensland, it's just the way it worked out with the batting list. It doesn't really matter to me.

"I've batted three my whole life, which is pretty much opening – I'm out there in the first five overs a lot. I've faced the new ball my whole career."

The Windies have an uphill battle to get the better of the Ausssies, having not won a Test, home or away, against Australia since 2003 when Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan spearheaded a record fourth-innings run chase.

They have not won a Test in Australia from their past 14 attempts, losing 12 and drawing two, with their most recent victory coming in 1997 when Curtly Ambrose bowled them to a dead-rubber win on a minefield strip at the nearby WACA Ground.

Only four of the Windies' selected XI for this Test have played a Test in Australia before; Brathwaite, Holder, Roach and Blackwood.

Australia are not taking their opponents lightly however, with Khawaja insisting, "I've never played a Test match that's been easy. It's always hard work.

Both teams performed a barefoot circle before in respect for the country's First Nations people, while Australia will also join the Windies in taking a knee before the first ball in an anti-racism stance.

The Windies will wear black arm bands in honour of former wicketkeeper David Murray who passed away last week, aged 72. The former wicketkeeper held a record nine catches in the 1981 Boxing Day Test.

Men's NRMA Insurance Test Series v West Indies

Nov 30 – Dec 4: First Test, Perth Stadium, 1:20pm AEDT

Dec 8-12: Second Test, Adelaide Oval, 3pm AEDT (day-night)

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, David Warner

West Indies squad: Kraigg Brathwaite (c), Jermaine Blackwood, Nkrumah Bonner, Shamarh Brooks, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Roston Chase, Joshua Da Silva, Jason Holder, Alzarri Joseph, Kyle Mayers, Anderson Phillip, Kemar Roach, Jayden Seales, Devon Thomas

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