St. George's(Greneda), July 3, (UNI) Australia batsman Steve Smith has recovered from his finger injury an will return to the side's playing XI for the second Test against the West indies in Grenada.
Skipper Pat Cummins revealed the return of Smith less than 24 hours out from the clash at the National Cricket Stadium, with Josh Inglis the player to make way for the Australian veteran.
Smith batted without pain while wearing a splint on Tuesday and Cummins said there was no reason to leave the 36-year-old out of the playing XI.
"He's ready to go, the finger held up well," Cummins said of Smith.
"He was really happy, particularly batting.
"Fielding we still potentially need to manage it a little bit, so he might not be in the slips too often – maybe for spin he'll be OK, but (for the) quicks he might need to wait another week.
"So you might see him running around a bit more … probably some variation of mid-off and fine leg, (but) we'll see if he lasts a few days down at fine leg, I reckon he'll be itching to get up in the circle pretty quick."
The return of Smith is the only change to the Australian team that defeated the West Indies by 159 runs in the opening Test of the series, while the Caribbean side confirmed they will wait until the toss before locking in their final XI.
The West Indies are deciding whether to include an extra seamer in their line-up, with left-armer Anderson Phillip a chance to play make his third Test appearance in Grenada in place of spinner and vice-captain Jomel Warrican.
One player certain to feature for the West Indies in the clash is experienced opener Kraigg Brathwaite, who will become just the 10th player from the Caribbean side to make 100 Test appearances.
Brathwaite has been a mainstay in the West Indies' red-ball setup since he made his Test debut back in 2011 and skipper Roston Chase paid tribute to the longevity of the 32-year-old.
"It's an amazing feat, he's the third Bajan player to do it so that's tremendous in itself," Chase said.
"The last guy to do it (for West Indies) was Chris Gayle in 2014, so it says a lot for Kraigg.
"He's a modern-day legend and someone I look up to – I've played with him from under-11s.
"He stated before starting his career that he wanted to play 100 Tests so that's an amazing achievement that someone can set a goal from so early and achieve it after so many years."
Australia XI for second Test: Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Cameron Green, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Beau Webster, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood
West Indies squad: Roston Chase (c), Jomel Warrican (vc), Kevlon Anderson, Kraigg Brathwaite, John Campbell, Keacy Carty, Justin Greaves, Shai Hope, Tevin Imlach, Alzarri Joseph, Shamar Joseph, Brandon King, Johann Layne, Mikyle Louis, Anderson Phillip, Jayden Seales
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