West Indies is all set to face mighty Australia today Wednesday November 30 in the first cricket test. West Indies has arrived in Perth ahead of their first Test in the western city in over a decade. Kraigg Brathwaite and his team touched down to the welcome sight on bright afternoon sunshine and temperatures in the high 20s. Following two weeks of intense preparations in Canberra as they prepare for the tw0-match Test Series against Australia. While in the nation's capitol city, West Indies had two warm-up matches against the ACT/NSW XI and the Australia Prime Minister's XI.

On Monday afternoon skipper Brathwaite joined Aussie skipper Pat Cummins for the official unveiling of the Frank Worrell trophy - named in honour of thelegendary West Indies captain. Speaking ahead of arrival in Perth, Simmons said: "the two weeks in Canberra was great. It was exactly what we were looking for. We got what we needed from the matches there. In the first match at Phillip Oval, the bowlers all had a decent work out, and in the first-class match with the pink ball, the match went down to the last over and the batsman all had a good time in the middle."

"Now in Perth we have to put the final elements to our preparations. The weather is a bit different, we're happy to see the sunshine and it's a bit warmer, so we will have a look at the conditions and plan accordingly." West Indies last played a Test in Perth in December, 2009. On that occasion the visitors came within 35 runs of victory on the last day. This was in a large part due to a blistering century off 72 balls by skipper Chris Gayle who won the Man of the Match and Player of the Series awards. Kemar Roach is the only member of the current touring party top have played back then.

During that match he bowled with tremendous pace and forced Aussie legend Ricky Ponting to retire hurt with a blow to the hand. The west Indies have an overall good record in Perth. The seven previous matches in the city were all played at the WACA Ground - West Indies won five and Australia won two. The first, back in 1975 Roy Fredericks made 169 off 145 balls while skipper Clive Lloyd added 186 balls. This was followed by a seven-wick haul from Andy Roberts. The most famous West Indies moment came in 1993 when Curtly Ambrose produced the famous spell of seven wickets for one run on his way to 33 wickets in the five-match series.

For the first time in nearly seven years, two sides with a great history meet in Test cricket. That history has been sadly one-sided for a long time, but this is an overdue meeting for Australia and West Indies. The last time West Indies won a Test on these shores was back in 1997 in Perth - the WACA version - when Brian Lara scored a century, and Curtly Ambrose got one to roll along the deck to Greg Blewett from one of the infamous cracks. West Indies' last Test victory against Australia was in 2003, when they chased a world record 418 in Antigua.

West Indies could field four players in their XI who were part of the side that played a damp affair from the two teams' last meeting, which was in Sydney in early 2016: Kraigg Brathwaite, now the captain; his predecessor Jason Holder; Jermaine Blackwood, and Kemar Roach. But for most, this will be a new experience. And that may not be a bad thing. Few give them a chance in this series - and it would be a surprise if it was anything other than 2-0 to Australia - but West Indies' Test cricket has shown improvement, albeit mostly at home.

However, revivals have to start somewhere. It may sound defeatist, but if they can compete in these two matches, it could provide more building blocks for the future. Their pace attack has the potential to cause problems; it will likely come down to whether they can put enough runs on the board to apply some pressure. Even though Australia lost their most recent Test - against Sri Lanka in Galle - they are in good shape in the format, as witnessed by the XI being entirely predictable. They are in a very strong position to reach the World Test Championship final - but be careful of those over rates - and a summer of victories will further strengthen their cause.

This will be Perth's first Test since the 2019-20 season when they hosted New Zealand in a day-night game, and it is just the second match at the venue with India having played the year before in an absorbing contest on a spicy pitch. It would be nice to think both those things can be repeated this time. Steven Smith has found his hands, feet, stance, grip.everything sounds as though it is working perfectly for him, as good as it has been since around 2016. It is a scary prospect for opposition bowlers because Smith has still averaged 61 in Tests since then, albeit the last couple of years have been more of a struggle. The signs were promising in the ODIs against England but he may have to be on his guard on a lively Perth pitch. Still, it feels like it could be a summer of runs for Smith.

The surname will be familiar. The stance may bring back memories. A few of the shots, too. And he marks his guard with the bail. But Tagenarine Chanderpaul wants to be his own man. At 26, he has had to bide his time for a Test debut, but this year his weight of runs have made an unquestionable case. Chanderpaul backed that up with a terrific double of 119 and 56 against Prime Minister's XI in the pratice match. Australia's bowling attack will be another level of the challenge, but he looks to have the game.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-INP