The 21-year-old left-handed Smith was last evening named in the West Indies final XI for the first Test encounter between the two teams here in 12 years.

The Test also marks the return of Brian Lara to the helm of the regional side after the world-record holder relinquished the post in 1999 and a historic one for opposing captain Steve Waugh, who will surpass his countryman’s Allan Border’s record Test appearances of 156 Tests.

The powerful and ruthless Australians, still basking in their recent World Cup triumph, have made it known that they are here to reclaim the title of world champions at the longer version of the game, despite losing three key and experienced players in leg-spinner Shane Warne, middle-order batsman Damien Martyn and ace speedster Glenn McGrath for varying reasons.

Experienced captain Steve Waugh is undaunted and undeterred by these losses and has reiterated that the loss of the three has opened the door for his younger brigades to establish themselves on the international scene.

“I think we’ve got some good players to fill those roles and I’m confident that we’ve got more than enough good players to do the job,” Waugh emphasised.

The Australian final XI was not released up to late last evening and speculations were rife as to whether they would include two spinners in right-arm leggie Stuart MacGill and left-armer Brad Hogg on what is expected to be the usual slow Bourda pitch.

Hogg claimed nine wickets in the game versus the Carib Beer XI at the Everest Cricket Club ground and is expected to play a major role in the series in the absence of Warne. The ‘mystery’ spinner played one Test against India seven years ago and performed creditably at the World Cup.

Should both Hogg and MacGill be included, there would only be room for two pacers in the fiery Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie - and unusual move from the stated policy of Waugh who categorically said on his arrival in Guyana that the Aussies would play three fast bowlers and one spinner regardless of the state of the pitches in the Caribbean.

While the visitors have the option of playing both spinners or one, the West Indies face the dilemma of entering the match without any frontline slow bowler following the withdrawal of sacked captain Carl Hooper and the dropping of the reliable Chris Gayle.

Skipper Lara was quick to admit yesterday that the selectors were depending on Hooper to do a lot of bowling and that his sudden absence would create “a bit of a problem”. Lara however countered that “we still do have confidence in our bowlers, be it fast bowlers or whoever it is.”

In the absence of Hooper and Gayle, Marlon Samuels will most likely be called upon to bowl long spells with the inclusion of four fast bowlers in the speedy Jermaine Lawson, Pedro Collins, Mervyn Dillon and Vasbert Drakes.

The West Indies troubles have been compounded with the unavailability of their new vice-captain Ramnaresh Sarwan, who trained with the squad yesterday with his right middle finger still visibly bandaged.

His absence as well as that of Hooper and Gayle, paves the way for the young guns in Smith, Daren Ganga, Marlon Samuels and Wavell Hinds to cement their places alongside the experienced Lara and Shivnarine Chanderpaul.

Teams: Brian Lara (captain), Wavell Hinds, Devon Smith, Daren Ganga, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Marlon Samuels, Ridley Jacobs, Vasbert Drakes, Mervyn Dillon, Pedro Collins, Jermaine Lawson. Reserves - Carlton Baugh Jr, Dave Bernrd jr.