The summer of Test cricket kicks off on Wednesday when Australia’s two-match series against the West Indies commences in Perth.

The Windies have been a shadow of their golden era teams of the 1970s, 80s and 90s in the red-ball arena for some time, but there are still plenty of reasons why you should care about their first Test series against Australia in seven years.

Windies on the way back

Despite their disastrous Twenty20 World Cup, which saw the two-time champions fail to qualify for the Super 12 stage after losing to Scotland and Ireland to finish on the bottom of their group, the West Indies actually have a decent Test squad. They head into this series against Australia in excellent form, having beaten England and Bangladesh 1-0 and 2-0 respectively in the Caribbean in March and June.

Plenty of calypso threats

Captain Kraigg Brathwaite led from the front for the West Indies across those two home series, amassing 491 runs at an average of 70.14, including four fifties and a brilliant 160 in the drawn second Test against England at Bridgetown – his second-highest Test score. Middle-order batsman Jermaine Blackwood was also consistent with the willow across both series, scoring 289 at 41.29, including a century. Wicketkeeper Joshua Da Silva and Nkrumah Bonner also hit tons against England, while all-rounder Kyle Mayers’ most recent knock saw him compile 146 against Bangladesh. And their bowling attack has also been in fine touch this year, especially their pace battery consisting of Alzarri Joseph, Jayden Seales and the evergreen Kemar Roach who combined for 63 wickets against England and Bangladesh. Joseph took 22 scalps at 25.82, Roach snared 21 at 22.57, including a five-wicket haul (5-53) in the first Test against Bangladesh at North Sound, and Seales claimed 20 at 22.15. Mayers was also handy, with his medium-pacers picking up 13 poles at a spectacular 9.77, and he was the only bowler to take a five-for (5-18) during the Botham-Richards Trophy series. How the Aussies cope with this attack that clearly has its tail up will be fascinating.

Test supremacy at stake for Aussies

Australia will want to deal with the threat they pose competently because this series could also have a huge bearing on the World Test Championship. The Australians are on top of the standings and only have three more series left in the league stage against the Windies, South Africa (during the peak summer period) and India, early next year. A strong showing against the West Indies will be critical for Australia, as South Africa and India are second and fourth, respectively. A slip up against the Windies could leave Australia vulnerable against those sides, who would have the potential to unseat the Aussies from the top rungs of the table. The top two teams in the Test championship will face each other in the final at The Oval in London in June.