Skipper Pat Cummins Announces Australia's Playing XI For 1st Test Against West Indies; Hazlewood Returns

After the T20 fever cooling down, finally, the cricket fraternity will be blessed with tests as Australia are set to host West Indies for a test series at home. Ahead of the 1st test at Perth on November 30th (Wednesday), skipper Pat Cummins announced the Australian playing XI on November 29th (Tuesday).

Australia are geared up to take on West Indies in the 1st test at Optus Stadium Perth. Ahead of the test match, Australia skipper Pat Cummins revealed the playing XI of his side that will contest in the 1st test against West Indies, for the first time in Australia in the last 7 years. Despite a strong lineup, Scott Boland is a notable name missing from the XI.

Boland was the star with the ball for Australia in the Ashes and has been excluded from the playing XI due to the presence of captain Cummins, Mitchell Starc & Josh Hazlewood. Apart from Boland's exclusion, there are no surprises in the playing XI as Australia have gone with the trusted combination. 

Australia conceded a disappointing loss to Sri Lanka in Galle in July, after which ace pacer Josh Hazlewood made his way back into the squad. Hazlewood has replaced the backup spinner Mitchell Swepson, who returned par figures of 3/103. However, Swepson failed to find a spot in the playing XI against West Indies since Australia have gone back to their trusted entities. 

Currently, at the top of the WTC Points table, Australia would have its eyes set on confirming its seat in the World Test Championship 2023 finals. Experienced batters David Warner and Usman Khawaja will be opening the innings for the Australian team, while Marcus Harris missed out even though he was recalled to the team for the 2-match series. 

After this series, Australia are scheduled to host South Africa for three tests in December while they'll be travelling to India for the four-match Border-Gavaskar series that will possibly decide the fate of both teams for the WTC finals.