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Should Ryan Harris be rested? How good can Ben Stokes be? These were two of the big questions to emerge from the final day of the WACA Test as Australia regained the Ashes, bowling out England for 353 to secure a 3-0 series win.
Should Harris be rested?
This same question was posed by many pundits and fans leading into the second Test at Adelaide but is far more pertinent now.
Having secured the Ashes and somewhat miraculously nursed their injury-prone spearhead through seven consecutive Tests, why would Australia push their luck?
With Australia’s biggest challenge still waiting around the corner – the three-Test tour of South Africa in February – it seems logical they would protect their most valuable, yet fragile bowler.
Until this charmed run, Harris had never completed more than three Tests without sustaining a significant injury.
His previous best stint was in the last Ashes series down under, where he played in the second, third and fourth Tests, suffering a long-term ankle injury in the last of those matches at the MCG.
Since making his debut in March 2010, the whole-hearted Queenslander has managed to take the field for just 19 of a possible 43 Tests.
When Harris has been in the side, Australia have won 11 Tests and lost just five.
If the Aussies are to challenge the world’s number one Test side in their backyard in two months time they need Harris.
Australia have never lost a Test series in South Africa since the Proteas were re-admitted to Test cricket more than 20 years ago.
But the Proteas have built a side so formidable that nothing short of a sensational team effort from Australia will prevent defeat.
Harris could enjoy a well-earned break over the next month before easing back into things in the weeks leading up to the first Test against South Africa at Centurion on February 12.
Resting Harris would also give Australia the opportunity to blood a young pacemen on Boxing Day, perhaps WA tearaway Nathan Coulter-Nile or South Australian swing merchant Chadd Sayers.
How good can Ben Stokes be?
The 22-year-old all-rounder played an innings of such courage, fluency and class that it’s hard to imagine he won’t have a long Test career.
To that point of the series his bowling had been most eye catching.
His ability to fling the ball at up to 145kmh from a high action which earns him both traditional and reverse swing is of tremendous value to a labouring England attack.
Even when Australia’s batsmen have been on the rampage, Stokes has appeared calm and more than happy to take the ball.
Despite having his maiden Test wicket disqualified due to a no-ball, the youngster kept his head and completed a solid debut with the ball at Adelaide.
While his series return of five wickets at 47 is underwhelming, they do not accurately reflect the threat he has posed.
He has looked every bit as dangerous as his lauded teammate James Anderson.
England, however, were far more keen to see him prove his value with the blade.
In his side’s second dig he did just that, and then some.
His innings of 120 from 195 balls was the finest hundred of this series so far.
Unlike many of his older teammates, Stokes was unfazed by the snarling menace of Mitchell Johnson and Ryan Harris, both of whom nudged the speed gun above 145kmh.
When they targeted his upper body he either evaded the deliveries calmly or attacked them with assured horizontal-bat strokes.
When they overpitched he strode forward confidently to send the ball skidding across the turf to the boundary.
When the ball jagged violently off one of the gaping cracks in the sunbaked WACA deck he did not panic.
It was an innings of rare composure from an all-rounder of such a tender age.
England will hope he can give their Test side the balance they have at times lacked since the retirement of Andrew Flintoff.