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Melbourne, June 15 (IANS) Brendan Doggett has been ruled out of Australia’s upcoming Test series against the West Indies due to a hip injury, with Sean Abbott named as his replacement.

Although Doggett’s injury has been described as "minor", he will return to Australia instead of joining the squad in the Caribbean. He had been the traveling reserve for the World Test Championship (WTC) final and was set to be part of the touring party for the West Indies series.

Doggett finished the 2024–25 season on a high note, taking an impressive 11 for 140 in the Sheffield Shield final for South Australia. His strong performances throughout the summer had propelled him back into national contention, and he was considered a chance to make his Test debut on this tour.

Abbott, who is also yet to debut at Test level, was previously part of Australia’s squads for the tours of Sri Lanka and the home series against India. He is often regarded as one of the more unfortunate players to have not yet earned a Test cap.

The Australian team will travel to Barbados in the middle of next week, with the first Test scheduled to begin on June 25. The series will then move to Grenada and conclude in Jamaica, where the final match will be a day-night Test.

Depending on pitch conditions, Australia may adjust the composition of their bowling attack during the series. If spin-friendly surfaces emerge, left-arm spinner Matt Kuhnemann could join Nathan Lyon, with two frontline fast bowlers. Allrounder Beau Webster's inclusion would still provide an additional seam option if required.

"What are we going to get in the Caribbean? We haven't been there since 2016, so there's a little bit of the unknown, but we feel as though we've got a squad that can cover all bases," head coach Andrew McDonald said.

Australia will also need to assess Steven Smith’s fitness upon arrival, following the compound dislocation he sustained on the third day at Lord’s, which has cast doubt over his availability for the opening Test. Fortunately, he avoided a fracture that might have necessitated surgery. While he must wear a splint for eight weeks, there is a possibility he could begin batting again after approximately two weeks.

"It just split the skin and dislocated it, which made me feel pretty ill at that stage. I think in a splint for eight weeks now and may be able to play with it in a couple of weeks, so it'll depend on my functionality and what I'm able to do, but it's probably the best result I could have hoped for," Smith told the ICC.

Australia Test squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Matt Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster.

--IANS

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