West Indies announce Test squad for Australia series; Simmons reinstated as coach

Phil Simmons has been reinstated as coach of the West Indies cricket team

West Indies has announced their 15-man squad for the next month's three-Test tour of Australia. The team will be led by Jason Holder while Phil Simmons has been reinstated as head coach, reports cricket.com.au.

Simmons was suspended from his post after he questioned the selectors regarding the exclusion of the all-rounders Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard saying that he was not getting "the best 50-over ODI squad". The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) took strong exception to the comments and removed him from the position but he has now been let go after he apologised.

"I regret my public outburst during a press conference...and the revelation of the vote that took place at the selection meeting," Simmons said. "I extend a public apology to all whom I may have offended. I have personally apologised to my fellow selectors and the WICB and now do so again publicly. I am looking forward to putting this behind me and doing the job I enjoy with the West Indies' senior men's teams.”

Eldine Baptiste was appointed as the interim coach for the tour of Sri Lanka which will end with a Twenty20 match on Wednesday. The series in the island nation has been a huge disappointment for West Indies as they suffered whitewashes in both the two-match Test series and the three-match ODI series.

But in spite of the losses in the longer format of the game, the West Indies squad will remain the same for the three-match Commonwealth Bank Test tour where they will take on Australia in Hobart, Melbourne and Sydney.

This will be Holder’s second series as Test captain of West Indies after Denesh Ramdin was replaced as the skipper for the Sri Lanka tour. West Indies will commence their tour with a four-day game against a Cricket Australia XI in Brisbane from December 2, before the first Test in Hobart from December 10. They are also going to play a two-day game in Geelong between the first and the second Test, the latter which begins on 19th December while the traditional Boxing Day Test will be played at the MCG on December 26.

West Indies Test Squad

Jason Holder (captain), Kraigg Brathwaite, Devendra Bishoo, Jermaine Blackwood, Carlos Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Rajindra Chandrika, Shane Dowrich, Shannon Gabriel, Shai Hope, Denesh Ramdin, Kemar Roach, Marlon Samuels, Jerome Taylor, Jomel Warrican