Australian cricket team in the West Indies in 1977–78 early. Australia had just defeated India 3–2 at home during the 1977–78 season; however, the team was rebuilding in the wake of defections of players to World Series Cricket. Most of these players were available for selection but the furore had led the Australian Cricket Board refusing to consider those players that had signed up to play in WSC for selection to the national side. The original squad selected were as follows: Kim Hughes fell ill during the tour and David Ogilvie was flown out as a replacement. Australia started the tour well with a victory against Leeward Islands, with
Keith Miller with the Australian cricket team in England in 1956 and Lock, who took 18 wickets between them. The Australian press attacked the team, and called for changes, including the omission of the captain, Johnson. Acerbic cricket pundit and former Test cricketer and team-mate Sid Barnes called Johnson "Australia's non-playing captain". Bill Ferguson, the Australian team's scorer, was also critical: "Had Johnson been told by his friends in the press that he was, in fact, a passenger, he might have pondered on the advisability of standing down. [...] There would have been no shame in standing down." Johnson, Miller and Gil Langley were the tour selectors. Langley and Miller were