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The West Indies begin their tour of Australia with the first one day international of the five match series at the WACA in Perth on Friday.
We’ll bring you the live coverage of the action throughout this ODI at the WACA from 2.20pm AEDT on February 1.
A drawn ODI series against Sri Lanka followed a 0-2 T20 loss at the hands of the same opponents, wiping out some of the sheen from the 3-0 Test match victory over the islanders.
The home side know they cannot afford another slip-up against the West Indies, ranked seventh in the ODI world.
Changes have been made to try and eradicate some of the issues the side faced in the Sri Lanka series.
David Hussey’s poor form means he has been replaced by Aaron Finch, while Moises Henriques may have got a ticket to the Tour of India but he is not fit to play the first couple of ODIs here. James Faulkner has impressed the selectors enough to gain a place in the squad.
With Faulkner blasting the West Indians with the bat and the ball in their tour game, he may even replace Henriques in the playing XI.
There is one other late change to the side, with Dave Warner suffering from a thumb fracture in a training session. Usman Khawaja gets another shot at international cricket after he was surprisingly dropped after just one game.
West Indies are World T20 winners but followed up with a pretty underwhelming ODI series defeat in Bangladesh. A look at their squad gives the impression they have the talent in both batting and bowling departments and it is just a matter of time before they start winning more consistently.
Captain Darren Sammy has often been criticized for not deserving a place in the starting XI. While a look at his statistics might suggest there is some truth in that allegation, what he has also done well is drill a team ethic into them, along with coach Otis Gibson.
Chris Gayle had a below-par Big Bash League earlier this summer but he looked to be getting back into form towards the end of that series. Ramnaresh Sarwan’s re-entry into the squad makes a lot of sense given the recent change in ODI rules requires more than only flashy batsman in the order.
Kemar Roach will lead the pace bowling attack with Sammy to share quick bowling duties. All-rounders Dwayne Bravo and Andre Russell will look to bowl as well.
Mystery spinner Sunil Narine wreaked havoc against Australia on their last tour of the West Indies but it will be interesting to see how he goes on pitches which may not assist his brand of bowling.
We will bring you the live coverage throughout the game from the WACA and hope to receive your opinions as the action unfolds.
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