Australia gets a big blow before the clash with West Indies, this fast bowler is out of the Test series

Brendan Doggett has been ruled out of playing for Australia in their upcoming Test series against the West Indies due to a hip injury. Sean Abbott has replaced him in the team. Even though Doggett's injury has been labeled "minor", instead of heading out with the team to the Caribbean, he will fly back to Australia. He was on reserve while traveling with the team for the WTC final and was set to travel with the team for the West Indies series.

Doggett finished the 2024-25 season brilliantly, taking 11 wickets for 140 runs in the Sheffield Shield final for South Australia. His impressive performances over the summer brought him back into the national team, and he was believed to get a chance to make his Test debut on this tour. Abbott, who is yet to make his debut at Test level, was earlier part of Australia's squad for the Sri Lanka tour and the home series against India. He is often considered one of the unlucky players who have yet to get a Test cap.

The Australian team will travel to Barbados in the middle of next week, where the first Test begins on June 25. The series will then move to Grenada and end in Jamaica, where the final match will be a day-night Test. Depending on the pitch conditions, Australia may adjust the composition of its bowling attack during the series. If spin-friendly surfaces emerge, left-arm spinner Matt Kuhnemann could join Nathan Lyon along with two frontline fast bowlers. The inclusion of all-rounder Beau Webster will also provide an additional seam option if required.

"What do we get in the Caribbean? We haven't been there since 2016, so there's a bit of an unknown, but we think we have a squad that can cover all the bases," head coach Andrew McDonald said.

Australia will also have to assess the fitness of Steven Smith, who suffered a compound dislocation on the third day at Lord's, which has cast doubts over his availability for the opening Test. Fortunately, he escaped with a fracture that could have required surgery. While he will have to wear a splint for up to eight weeks, it's likely he can start batting again after about two weeks.

"It just split the skin and displaced it, which made me feel quite ill at the time. I think it's going to be eight weeks in a splint now and maybe a couple of weeks before I'll be able to play with it, so it will depend on my functionality and what I can do, but it's probably the best outcome I could have hoped for," Smith told the ICC.

Australia Test squad: Pat Cummins (captain), 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.