Australia will next tour the West Indies for a three-match Test series.
The World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 runners-up, Australia, will next tour the West Indies to kick off the new WTC cycle. The three-match red-ball series will commence on June 25 in Barbados. However, there are concerns regarding the participation of the veteran Australia batter Steve Smith in that series. He suffered a compound dislocation on his right little finger while fielding, during the third day of the WTC 2025 final.
The 36-year-old was rushed to the hospital after sustaining the injury while attempting to catch an edge of the South Africa captain Temba Bavuma. According to an ESPN Cricinfo report, his wound would take at least two weeks to heal. However, the batter will need to continue with his finger splint for six weeks more.
Ahead of the Tests in the West Indies, Smith was also set to take part in the ongoing third edition of the Major League Cricket (MLC), for the reigning champions Washington Freedom. However, the recent unfortunate injury has sidelined his participation in this 20-over tournament.
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The former Australia captain is unlikely to recover before the first clash against WI which will kick off on June 25. The batter may feature in the upcoming red-ball matches if he could bat comfortably with the splint in his finger. The second and third Tests in Grenada and Jamaica will start on July 3 and July 12, respectively.
“I think it’s somewhere around the 10 days to two weeks. Then maybe you try and bat with a splint and see how that looks. I think it’s a bit of a wait and see. I’d say first Test, maybe unlikely, and then kind of go from there. It’s a bit early just to tell,” said the Australia skipper Pat Cummins.
Smith’s absence from the Test squad will be a strong disadvantage for the Aussies. The batter showed great touch to top score with a gritty 66-run knock off 112 deliveries in the first innings of the WTC Final. However, his omission has further increased the troubles for Cummins and Co. who were already struggling with the lean patches of their openers Marnus Labuschagne and Usman Khawaja. Cameron Green has also failed to put on a show at No. 3 as Kagiso Rabada dismissed him twice in the WTC Final on the scores of 4(3) and 0(2).
Opener Sam Konstas, who made the headlines with his brilliant performance on Test debut against India in the latest Border-Gavaskar Trophy, might make a comeback in the squad. They may also look towards Josh Inglis who notched up an excellent 102 in his Test debut against Sri Lanka in Galle.
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