West Indies include seven uncapped players for Australia Tests
Holder and Mayers have opted out to play T20 franchise cricket while Seales is also unavailable due to a shoulder injury
ESPNcricinfo staff
21-Dec-2023
Kraigg Brathwaite scored a century in Perth last year • Getty Images
West Indies have included as many as seven uncapped players in their squad for the daunting challenge of facing Australia in two Tests next month. Batter Zachary McCaskie, wicketkeeper Tevin Imlach, allrounders Justin Greaves, Kavem Hodge and Kevin Sinclair along with quick bowlers Akeem Jordan and Shamar Joseph are among the 15 names which will be without Jason Holder who has opted to play T20 franchise cricket.
Exciting young quick bowler Jayden Seales is also unavailable due to a shoulder injury while, like Holder, allrounder Kyle Mayers has opted out of the tour to play T20s.
The majority of those in line for their maiden Test appearance featured in the recent West Indies A tour of South Africa which included three four-day matches. Offspinning allrounder Sinclair, who has played seven ODIs and six T20Is, impressed on that trip with a batting return of 44.00 alongside 12 wickets at 25.91 having also stood out on the earlier A tour to Bangladesh. In last season's West Indies four-day championship he averaged 16.61 with the ball and was called up to the Test squad against India earlier this year.
Pace bowler Joseph, who only has five first-class games under his belt, was another to return from the A tour with good numbers having taken 12 wickets in two matches. Fellow quick Jordan, who was previously part of the Test squad to tour South Africa earlier this year, took nine wickets for the A side to follow 12 in three games against Bangladesh A.
Hodge was the second-highest run-scorer in South Africa with 179 at 29.83 which followed a domestic return of 387 at 38.78 for Windward Islands.
With nearly half the squad having no Test experience it will put even more onus on the group of senior players led by captain Kraigg Brathwaite who will have a new vice-captain in Alzarri Joseph. They are among just five players who were part of last season's Test series in Australia alongside Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Joshua Da Silva and Kemar Roach.
"The squad has been affected by the unavailability of some key players," Desmond Haynes, West Indies' lead selector, said. "However, we have had a very strong red-ball program being run over the past year, which has unearthed significant talent throughout the region. The selected players have passed each test given to them and must now be given the opportunity to showcase their skills in the test arena. Australia away is always a challenge, but we are confident in our team."
Darren Bravo, who has not played Test cricket since 2020 but averaged 55.75 in last season's domestic four-day tournament and made a century in Australia on the 2015-16 tour, recently took time away from the game following his omission from the one-day squad to face England.
West Indies have not won a Test in Australia since 1997, losing 14 of the 16 outings since. Due to the vagaries of the World Test Championship draw, they are visiting for the second consecutive summer. Last season they were beaten by 164 runs in Perth and 419 runs in Adelaide - their largest ever runs defeat against Australia.
The Test squad will undertake a training camp in Adelaide from January 2-9 before facing a Cricket Australia XI in a four-day game at the Karen Rolton Oval from January 10-13 ahead of the first Test on the 17th.
This season Adelaide reverts to a traditional red-ball Test with Brisbane hosting a day-night fixture beginning on January 25.
The tour also includes three ODIs and three T20Is in early February with squads for those still to be named.