New-look Windies hoping for fresh fortunes

West Indies begin their second men's Test tour to Australia in barely a year hopeful that a new coach and a slew of fresh faces will also deliver them a change in fortunes.

Having slipped quietly into Adelaide late last month and acclimatising with a series of training sessions at Karen Rolton Oval over the ensuing 10 days, Kraigg Brathwaite's team finalise their Test preparation with a three-day game against a young Cricket Australia XI starting tomorrow.

While the tour match is not an official first-class fixture which means both teams can rotate more than 11 players through their line-ups, it will provide vital experience for a visiting outfit that bears little resemblance to the squad that played two Tests here at the end of 2022.

Skipper Brathwaite is one of only five members of the 15-player group returning to Australia, along with veteran quick Kemar Roach, fellow fast bowler (now vice-captain) Alzarri Joseph, keeper Joshua DaSilva and opener Tagenarine Chanderpaul who impressed in his maiden series last year.

Seven of the 15 are as-yet uncapped at Test level – batter Zachary McCaskie (Barbados), keeper Tevin Imlach (Guyana), allrounders Justin Greaves (Barbados), Kavem Hodge (Dominica) and Kevin Sinclair (Guyana), plus pace bowlers Akeem Jordan (Barbados) and Shamar Joseph (Guyana).

The most notable absentees from last year are former skipper Jason Holder and explosive allrounder Kyle Mayers who opted to pursue T20 franchise opportunities elsewhere during January, and exciting quick Jayden Seales who is suffering from a shoulder injury.

Also missing from last year's touring party that suffered heavy losses in Perth and Adelaide are then-vice captain Jermaine Blackwood, Nkrumah Bonner, Shamarh Brooks, Roston Chase, Anderson Phillip, Raymon Reifer and Devon Thomas.

Former Jamaica wicketkeeper Andre Coley has taken over as coach after Phil Simmons' tenure ended after the previous Australia campaign, and he believes the inclusion of untried talent coupled with the challenge posed by the world's top-ranked Test outfit on their home turf can bring the best out of his unheralded squad.

"At the moment we have a number of white-ball franchise tournaments that are happening at around the same time, we have a couple of injuries as well so when you put all of that together it will have impacted some of the selection," Coley told cricket.com.au today.

West Indies squad: Kraigg Brathwaite (c), Alzarri Joseph (vc), Alick Athanaze, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Joshua DaSilva, Justin Greaves, Kavem Hodge, Tevin Imlach, Akeem Jordan, Shamar Joseph, Zachary McCaskie, Kirk McKenzie, Gudakesh Motie, Kemar Roach, Kevin Sinclair

 

CA XI squad: Peter Handscomb (c), Jack Clayton, Harry Conway, Jake Doran, Jayden Goodwin, Liam Haskett, Bradley Hope, Jack Nisbet, Liam Scott, Tim Ward, Doug Warren, Teague Wyllie

"But with that said, it does not take away from the fact the players who are here on tour actually merit their selection.

"So it's an opportunity for the players that are here to express themselves and play against a team who won the last (World) Test Championship.

"It's a wonderful opportunity for everyone."

West Indies last Test victory in Australia came at the WACA Ground in Perth 27 years ago, and their most recent win away from home came against Bangladesh at Dhaka in February, 2021.

Coley said the absence of formal first-class status for this tour game gives him a chance to have a look at how all members of the West Indies squad acquit themselves in Australia conditions, and also allows them to better manage fast-bowler workloads.

Those quicks will glean insights about local conditions from former Australia firebrand Shaun Tait who is serving as an assistant coach during this tour.

Of further benefit will be the use of Karen Rolton Oval's drop-in pitch for the three-day match, which is expected to prove near identical in composition and character to the surface at Adelaide Oval for the first NRMA Insurance Test starting January 17 given it has been prepared by the same ground staff.

But Coley was today keeping an open mind as to whether the planned uniformity between Karen Rolton and Adelaide Ovals would prove an advantage heading into next week's series opener.

"That's the thing about pitches, no two are the same," he said.

"So as you play on them you assess and you work out what the approach is going to be.

"Similarly in a Test match, you have an idea how Adelaide pitches will play but we'll take it one step at a time.

"We'll tackle the three-day match and get as much as we can from the three-day and from the surface that's offered, and then when the Test match comes around we'll deal with that."

In addition to conditions unfamiliar to most of the West Indies squad, the visitors will face a CA XI comprising largely up-and-coming players from around Australia with the exceptions of experienced trio Peter Hansdcomb, Harry Conway and Jake Doran.

Handscomb's late call-up as a replacement for injured Melbourne Stars keeper Sam Harper meant he was unable to join the CA squad for today's practice session at Rolton Oval, and is expected to return to fly out immediately after the game for the Stars match against cross-town BBL rivals Melbourne Renegades on Saturday.

"I spoke to him (Handscomb) yesterday and he's really keen, wants to play," CA XI coach Adam Griffith told cricket.com.au today.

"And that's probably the case when you do move through your career and you get more experience, you know that when these opportunities arise it's a great one to take and to perform well in.

"Obviously Pete with his experience will be looking to make some runs here, it's a good opportunity for him but you could say that about the whole batting group who have done well in Shield cricket and that's why they've got the opportunity.

"It's quite a young group, which in itself lends to that enthusiasm of going out and playing against good opposition.

"It's a chance for the guys to show what they can do with their skill against an international team that's about to play some Test matches.

"I'm sure there's a few guys who have got ambitions to progress through, and we saw in the Aussie A game against Pakistan (at Manuka Oval last month) a few of the guys did pretty well and they were talked about.

"So I think it's the same thing, if someone can stand up and make a good hundred or take a five or six-for, they're obviously going to shine out in front of the rest of the group."

In addition to the flexibility afforded playing personnel used during the match, it is tipped the tour game will be staged to ensure West Indies are given adequate exposure to batting and bowling in Australia conditions to aid their Test preparations.

But Griffith, the current Victoria bowling coach who has also undertaken coaching stints in the IPL, noted his line-up that includes aspiring Australia batters the likes of Tim Ward and Teague Wyllie as well as rookie pace bowlers Jack Nisbet and Liam Haskett won't be pulling any punches.

"We can manipulate things a little bit if we need to, but we'll be trying to play the game as well as we can to what we would do if it was a first-class game," Griffith said.

"You want to give them (West Indies) an opportunity to prepare as best they can because we want a really good Test series.

"So you want them to be in good form and playing well to challenge Australia.

"But that being said, we're not going to lie down and give them an easy run, we'll be competing.

"These guys (CA XI) aren't going to just roll out there and take it easy, they want to show what they can do as well."

NRMA Insurance Test series v West Indies

Tour match: January 10-13, Karen Rolton Oval (10.30am AEDT)

First Test: January 17-21, Adelaide Oval (10.30am AEDT)

Second Test: January 25-29, Gabba (3pm AEDT)

West Indies Test squad: Kraigg Brathwaite (c), Alzarri Joseph (vc), Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Kirk McKenzie, Alick Athanaze, Kavem Hodge, Justin Greaves, Joshua DaSilva, Akeem Jordan, Gudakesh Motie, Kemar Roach, Kevin Sinclair, Tevin Imlach, Shamar Joseph, Zachary McCaskie

Men's Dettol ODI Series v West Indies

February 2: MCG, 2.30pm AEDT

February 4: SCG, 2.30pm AEDT

February 6: Manuka Oval, Canberra 2.30pm AEDT

Men's Dettol T20I Series v West Indies

February 9: Blundstone Arena, Hobart 7.00pm AEDT

February 11: Adelaide Oval, 7pm AEDT

February 13: Perth Stadium, 7pm AEDT