Australia vs West Indies, 1st Test: Playing 11 of Aussies, Windies for the Perth Test; Hazlewood returns

Perth, November 29: Skipper Pat Cummins on Tuesday (November 29) has confirmed the make-up of the Australia Playing 11 that will take the field for his side in the first Test against the West Indies in Perth.

The Playing 11 for Australia's first home Test of the summer contains no major surprises, with Cummins confirming one change from the team that played in the most recent Test match in Sri Lanka.

Spinner Mitchell Swepson was replaced by experienced seamer Josh Hazlewood, who was dropped after Australia's humiliating loss to Sri Lanka in Galle in July.

Swepson took 3/103 in that match, but the 29-year-old was not selected for the West Indies series as Australia reverted to their standard line-up of three seamers and one spinner.

Veteran openers David Warner and Usman Khawaja remain at the top of Australia's batting order, with left-hander Marcus Harris missing out despite being called up for the series.

The series against the West Indies is critical for Australia's chances of reaching the World Test Championship final next year, with Cummins' side currently leading the standings ahead of a busy upcoming schedule.

Following the West Indies series, Australia will host South Africa for three Tests before embarking on a four-Test series in India that could decide their World Test Championship fortunes.

Australia will play their first match of the series against West Indies on December 4 at the Perth Stadium while the second and final match of the two-match series will take place on December 8-12 at the Adelaide Oval.

Australia currently claimed second place on the ICC World Test Championship standings and the West Indies series is the first of three to ultimately determine their fate.

Cummins defends players

Cummins, speaking ahead of the first Test against the West Indies, insisted there was no "ill will" towards Justin Langer.

Langer criticised anonymous “cowards” who leaked information against him during his time as Australia coach, when speaking to the Back Chat podcast which was released last week.

The ex-Australian opener, who ultimately resigned from the role in February after only being offered a short-term extension, had tried to backtrack from those comments, stating the players were "like my younger brothers".

Cummins moved to defend his teammates but reiterated there were no hard feelings with Langer.

"There's no cowards in an Australian cricket team, not ever," Cummins told reporters. "I'd probably never disclose private conversations.

"I think it's disappointing sometimes the focus gets drawn to off-field issues but it hasn't really affected our team."

Cummins added: "I think there's no ill will to what he was trying to do and he clarified afterwards.

"I think he had a think about it and clarified it, so thank him for that. But we're really proud of the last 12 months, how we've fronted up, the way we've played, the way we've conducted ourselves. Players can certainly hold their heads high.

Australia Playing 11: 1 David Warner, 2 Usman Khawaja, 3 Marnus Labuschagne, 4 Steve Smith, 5 Travis Head, 6 Cameron Green, 7 Alex Carey, 8 Pat Cummins (captain), 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Josh Hazlewood, 11 Nathan Lyon.

West Indies playing 11 (Predicted): 1 Kraigg Brathwaite (captain), 2 Shamarh Brooks, 3 Nkrumah Bonner, 4 Jermaine Blackwood, 5 Kyle Mayers / Tagnarine Chanderpaul, 6 Roston Chase, 7 Joshua Da Silva, 8 Jason Holder, 9 Alzarri Joseph, 10 Kemar Roach, 11 Jayden Seales.