West Indies Announce Test Squad vs Australia, Roach Dropped

The West Indies have made changes to their squad for their first series of the World Test Championship (WTC). Roston Chase, who last played a test in 2023, has been named as the test captain for the Windies. Shai Hope, who leads the white-ball sides for West Indies, has earned a recall to the test circuit. Meanwhile, Brandon King has also earned a call-up to the test side. The hosts have also dropped their veteran seam bowler Kemar Roach from this series.

West Indies have bolstered their top-order by bringing back John Campbell and picking the 24-year-old Kevlon Anderson for the first time following his recent successes in the domestic setup. Anderson scored 573 runs in 11 innings in the West Indies Championship 2024/25, including three centuries, and finished third on the run-getters list.

Darren Sammy On the WI Squad

"I'm really excited to welcome Kelvon Anderson, whose hard work has finally paid off. he was scoring consistently in the domestic circuit. Sammy stated. "Shai Hope was always in our plans for test cricket after his white-ball success, Brandon King is someone for whom we have allotted him a role, a role which is going to be very important for us in the upcoming days," Sammy concluded

The bowling unit has some fresh faces too. 21-year-old Johann Layne comes in after having picked 63 wickets in 17 first-class fixtures. Anderson Phillip, who was part of the squad in Pakistan too, recently picked a five-fer for West Indies A against South Africa A.

"The starting of the WTC for us as we have to build a momentum, that keeps us going, in our quest to play the finals, we have to play our best cricket & to play a strong team like Australia makes it challenging yet exciting for us," Sammy said.

"We need to have a strong squad in all three departments, batting, bowling & fielding, so that we can play according to the situation, win crucial phases in the test match," he added.

Alongside Roach, Joshua da Silva, Alick Athanaze, Kavem Hodge, Amir Jangoo, Gudakesh Motie, and Kevin Sinclair, who played in the Pakistan series, have been dropped. The first of the three tests starts from June 25 at Barbados.

West Indies squad for Australia Tests: Roston Chase (Captain), Jomel Warrican (Vice Captain), 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