West Indies have plucked a former Test batter from Australian club cricket to assist them in the field during the second Test against the Aussies in Adelaide, while the hosts have been forced into a late re-shuffle of their own with veteran pacer Josh Hazlewood ruled out due to injury. Omar Phillips played two Test matches for the West Indies in 2009 when a host of their stars were going through a contract dispute and has recently been plying his trade in Melbourne as player-coach with Strathmore Cricket Club.

But with the West Indies struggling with injuries, Phillips has answered a late SOS on the morning of the day-night second Test and will join up with the remainder of the squad in Adelaide. Phillips managed to score 94 on debut for the West Indies against Bangladesh in Kingstown 13 years ago, but further innings of just 14, 23 and 29 - plus the return of star players in the ilk of Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan - meant his time at the top was short lived.

The 36-year-old last played a first-class match when he turned out for Barbados against the Windward Islands in 2017, with the left-hander moving to Australia shortly after to continue his cricket career. The decision to fly Phillips to Adelaide is due to a bevy of injuries to key West Indies players, with Kemar Roach, Jayden Seales and Nkrumah Bonner all battling ailments ahead of the final Test of the series.

Uncapped pacer Marquino Mindley flew into Adelaide earlier in the week and moved straight into the West Indies' XI for his debut. The mad dash made by Phillips and Mindley comes as Australia made a second change to their XI, with Hazlewood joining fellow pacer and skipper Pat Cummins on the sidelines because of injury.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-INP