Labuschagne ended day one of the first Test unbeaten on 154, with Australia in the dominant position of 2-293 at Optus Stadium in Perth after winning the toss and electing to bat on Wednesday.

Steve Smith (59no) has the chance to post his 29th Test century when the action resumes today, but all eyes will be on Labuschagne in his quest for a double ton.

His highest Test score is the 215 he posted against New Zealand in Sydney in 2020.

The 28-year-old is keen to reach the 200 mark again.

“Whenever you’re not out overnight on 150, the next stop is 200,” Labuschagne said.

“If I’m able to stick to the process long enough … I’m sure I’ll get there.

“But put that out of your mind, you’ve just got to take it ball by ball.

“If the 200 does come, that’s great. But more importantly, it’s just trying to get as many runs as we can in this first innings and put the pressure on the West Indies.”

Labuschagne featured in all three games of the recent ODI series against England.

But he had no trouble adapting to the red ball on the bouncy Perth deck.

“I grew up on red-ball cricket,” Labuschagne said.

“Dating back to our under 19s tournaments, it was red ball. I grew up in that space.

“I think that comes more naturally to me – going back to my roots.”

Labuschagne’s innings against the West Indies wasn’t completely flawless, with his top edge for four off the bowling of Jayden Seales hardly conventional.

Next ball, when on 63, he edged Seales in the vacant gap between second and fourth slip.

He also had a heart-in-mouth moment on 75 when a thick edge off Kemar Roach flew high to second slip, where Jason Holder narrowly missed getting his right hand to the ball.

But he maintained his concentration and laughed away the near misses on the way to a perfect start to the summer.

The touring spinner again copped the most damage, with Roston Chase going for 0-63 off 15 overs as he too often bowled wide of off-stump to a leg side field.

It came after it all started so brightly for West Indies, when David Warner was bowled for five by Jayden Seales (1-63) while Alzarri Joseph was rushing batsmen on the back foot.

The West Indies now face an uphill battle to work their way back into the match.

Coach Phil Simmons felt his team just lacked a bit of luck on day one.

“I think the first two sessions were good from a point of view they didn’t get away,” Simmons said.

“We were still getting chances and were still putting them under pressure.

“In the last session, a few too many runs leaked. It makes the day look bad. But the first two sessions were good sessions.

“Some of the balls that were bowled today that missed the bat, nine out of 10 times they would hit the edge or something like that.

“To me it was just one of those days. We bowled well in spurts but we didn’t get the breaks.”

AUSTRALIA 2-293 (Labuschagne 154 no, Khawaja 65, Smith 59 no, Mayers 1-24)

-AAP