West Indies announces seven uncapped players for Australia Tests

MELBOURNE: West Indies will blood at least four debutants in the first Test against Australia next month after naming seven uncapped players in a 15-man squad for the two-match series.

Languishing at eighth in the world rankings, the Caribbeans’ hopes of ending a 20-year losing streak against Australia appear faint with all-rounders Jason Holder and Kyle Mayers electing to skip the series to play franchise T20 cricket.

Fast bowler Jayden Seales, meanwhile, is sidelined with a shoulder injury.

Babar Azam reclaims no.1 spot in ICC rankings

Pakistan ace batter Babar Azam has reclaimed the top position in the recently updated ICC ODI batters rankings. The former Pakistan skipper dethroned his Indian counterpart Shubman Gill to become the number one ranked ODI batter. As per the ICC ranking, Babar has 824 points, 14 more than the Indian opener’s 810. Interestingly, the third and fourth spots of the list are also occupied by Indian batsmen, Virat Kohli, 775, and Rohit Sharma, 754, respectively. On the bowler’s end, both Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav took a dip one spot in their ODI rankings. India batter Suryakumar Yadav solidified his

“The squad has been affected by the unavailability of some key players,” lead selector Desmond Haynes said in a statement.

“However, we have had a very strong red-ball program being run over the past year, which has unearthed significant talent throughout the region.”

The uncapped players in the Kraigg Brathwaite-captained squad are batsman Zachary McCaskie, wicketkeeper Tevin Imlach, all-rounders Justin Greaves, Kavem Hodge and Kevin Sinclair; and fast bowlers Akeem Jordan and Shamar Joseph.