'Haven't looked at them': Mystery over Aussie first in Jamaica

Australia are yet to sight the pink Dukes balls they will use in the third Test in Jamaica as mystery remains over the side's first day-night Test abroad.

Australia received official confirmation the final Test of the series would indeed be a day-night affair two days ago with concerns over upgraded floodlights at Sabina Park resolved.

Fittingly, Mitchell Starc – the most prolific Test bowler with the pink ball with 74 wickets – is set to play his 100th Test, becoming just the second fast bowler for Australia to reach the mark after Glenn McGrath, and the 11th specialist quick overall.

But he's yet to pick up the balls that will be used in his milestone match, which captain Pat Cummins said would hopefully be waiting for them when they arrive at Kingston's Sabina Park on Wednesday for their first and only night training session ahead of Saturday's series finale.

The ball to be used in Jamaica differs from the Kookaburra variety used by Australia in home day-night Tests, with West Indies switching to a specifically designed Dukes ball more than a decade ago, which is intended to cope better with the abrasive pitches in the Caribbean.

"I haven't had a look at them," Cummins said following Australia's series-clinching 133-run win in the second Test in Grenada.

"We've been trying to get our hands on some, but we haven't yet, so hopefully they're waiting for us in Jamaica.

"My experience in pink ball (cricket) in Australia is you never quite know what you're going to get. We've played a lot but things can change really quickly. Even when you feel like you're on top, things can change quite fast.

"As a bowler, maybe swing comes into it a little bit more. When the ball is hard, you maybe try and make the most of that.

"It's a slightly different tempo but it's not worlds away from normal Test cricket."

Pink Dukes balls have only been used in two Test matches to date, once between England and West Indies at Edgbaston in 2017 and again in 2018 in Barbados when the Windies hosted Sri Lanka.

The small sample size of Tests played with the English-branded pink ball has made it difficult for Australia head coach Andrew McDonald to tell whether there would be any connection between day-night Tests played in Australia.

"It's a different ball," he said overnight in Grenada.

"What the lights are like in Jamaica? I can't tell you that.

"In a couple of days' time we'll have a better handle on it, so we're going into a little bit of the unknown with this version of the pink-ball Test match.

"We're excited by it. It's a different format. It creates different challenges.

"Some players really love it, some don't like it as much, but we'll solve whatever problems that present.

"We've got a night session three days out and that's going to be the really important one. If you look at pink-ball Test match history, the night session is always the tricky one.

"What does it do? How much does it do? How do you combat that? We've had conversations around double nightwatchmen in Australia. Do we do that again?

"We'll have a better handle on it in a couple of days' time."

West Indies inflicted Australia's first ever day-night Test defeat the last time these two teams met with the pink ball in Brisbane in January 2024, with Shamar Joseph famously bowling the Windies to an eight-run upset win with seven second-innings wickets while nursing a fractured toe.

Australia have wrapped up the series already after taking an unassailable 2-0 lead by winning the first two Tests in Barbados and Grenada to extend their hold on the Frank Worrell Trophy past 30 years, but the series finale is anything but a dead rubber with 12 more crucial World Test Championship points on offer for claiming a series sweep.

"If the conditions were the same as what was presented in the first couple of Test matches and everyone pulls up fine, then it's highly unlikely for any change," McDonald said of Australia's potential XI for the third Test.

"We've got three days leading into that game to get our heads around the pink ball and what that does.

"We'll check in with the players tomorrow as to where they're medically all at. There's nothing to suggest anything is wrong with anyone, but we'll just work through that process and get ourselves ready for that Test."

Despite winning the first Test by a bigger margin (159 runs), McDonald said there were more positive signs in the second Test in Grenada as Australia's new-look top-order continues to gel.

"The way that Sam Konstas went about it in the first innings and the method that he applied, albeit only a small contribution, was an improvement on the first Test," McDonald said.

"That first innings, I thought the way he structured up in his first 20-odd balls, he had the positive intent, he was moving a lot better compared to the game before, where it looked like he was stuck in the middle and didn't know whether to play a shot and it was either ultra-aggressive or ultra-defensive.

"He's striking that balance; a small step forward … and we look forward to him growing as a player in this environment.

"Cameron Green in both innings – take out that over before lunch (on day one) where he made a couple of errors in the way that he was attacking that.

"The second innings was a big stride forward at a position that we think he can prosper."

Qantas Tour of the West Indies

First Test: Australia won by 159 runs

Second Test: Australia won by 133 runs

Third Test: July 12-16, Kingston, Jamaica (4.30am AEST)

Australia Test squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Matt Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster

West Indies Test squad: Roston Chase (c), Jomel Warrican (vc), Kevlon Anderson, Kraigg Brathwaite, John Campbell, Keacy Carty, Justin Greaves, Shai Hope, Tevin Imlach, Alzarri Joseph, Shamar Joseph, Brandon King, Johann Layne, Mikyle Louis, Anderson Phillip, Jayden Seales

First T20I: July 20, Kingston, Jamaica (July 21, 11am AEST)

Second T20I: July 22, Kingston, Jamaica (July 23, 11am AEST)

Third T20I: July 25, Basseterre, St Kitts (July 26, 9am AEST)

Fourth T20I: July 26, Basseterre, St Kitts (July 27, 9am AEST)

Fifth T20I: July 28, Basseterre, St Kitts (July 29, 9am AEST)

West Indies T20 squad: TBC

Australia's T20 squad: Mitchell Marsh (c), Sean Abbott, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Ben Dwarshius, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Matt Kuhnemann, Glenn Maxwell, Mitch Owen, Matthew Short, Adam Zampa