The eleven men who combined through five Test matches to win back the Ashes this summer are no doubt still basking in the glory of what was an outstanding achievement.
For ten of those involved they know, injury aside, they will be lining up at Centurion on 12 February when the opening Test of three against world number one South Africa gets underway.
The one man who will continue to have sleepless nights is George Bailey.
On the back of blistering one-day form in both England and India ahead of the Ashes series he was given his chance to transfer his game to the Test arena as the 436th man to be accorded the honour of donning the famous baggy green.
Alas for Bailey his maiden series did not pan out as he would have hoped as he could only manage 183 runs at 26.1, his highest score being 53 at Adelaide.
It did not augur well for the affable Tasmanian that his performances came against an England outfit that was, in the main, woefully devoid of form and confidence.
Despite the old adage that you don’t make changes to a winning team Bailey’s immediate tenure is certainly under the microscope especially given Australia’s next assignment pitches them head-to-head with the top-two ranked bowlers in the world, Vernon Philander and Dale Steyn.
Bailey’s technique, as many thought would be the case, was found out against England with too many dismissals resulting from deliveries in the channel outside off-stump.
That technical deficiency would be probed even more severely by the likes of Steyn and Philander.
So if Bailey is to be jettisoned just who are the potential candidates to gain entry to the side in South Africa?
The names being bandied around at present are New South Welshman Nic Maddinson, Tasmanian pair Jordan Silk and Alex Doolan, Queensland’s Chris Lynn and the Redback’s Phil Hughes.
That’s a fair field, and with the exception of Hughes, they are yet to make their Test debut.
Doolan, at 28, is the most senior in terms of age.
His name is perhaps the one that is most often thrown up with many in fact preferring him to Bailey for the job at number six heading into the Ashes.
He first came to national attention following his unbeaten 161 for Australia A last summer at the SCG, interestingly against the touring Proteas that were fielding Steyn and Philander.
He started the current summer in blazing form with innings of 56 and 132 against New South Wales.
Since then his form has not been as bright as he carries a series average of 39.1 after five Shield matches.
His Tasmanian teammate, 21-year-old Silk has had a boon start to his first-class career with four centuries from his first 11 matches – this season, in six Shield matches, he has averaged 35.1 and a career average of 38.1.
Left-hander Maddinson, who opens for the Blues, has amassed 418 runs at 38.0 from his six Shield outings this season to give him a first-class average of 40 after 33 matches.
Lynn has been in blistering form for the Heat in the BBL and also fared well to the halfway point of the Shield season with a five-match return of 405 runs at 57.8.
After 26 first-class matches, and at the age of 23, he boasts a career average of 43.2.
And then there is Hughes, who if he were to be recalled to the Test side would be doing so for the fifth time.
In all he has played 26 Tests which have produced a roller-coaster ride and 1535 runs at 32.6.
In that time he has been employed as an opener and at numbers three, four and six.
His last two stints in the side lasted seven and nine matches yet he has failed to nail a spot with his unorthodox technique against international bowling still proving to be suspect.
On the home front he continues to make merry having scored 549 runs at 61.0 from five Shield matches for his adopted state.
So there you have it – five candidates, other than the incumbent, who are all thought to be in the frame for fourth drop against South Africa.
Personally, I would not go for any of them.
Bailey it appears will be found out and given his recent international exposure so will Hughes.
The other four all have cases to mount, however I would not be looking to blood them against South Africa.
Against such a potent pace attack I believe Australia would be best served selecting a player who has already tasted the international arena, albeit in this case not at Test level, and who also has a wealth of experience behind him.
My choice would be Adam Voges.
He has hardly put a foot wrong when he has been called upon to play limited-overs cricket for his country – 31 ODIs for 870 runs at 45.8 and seven T20s for 139 runs at 46.3.
This season he posted a career high 235 not out against Queensland and averages 72.2 from his four Shield appearances this summer.
In a 139-game first-class career he has scored 8637 runs at 41.5 and has also performed handily with his left-arm finger spinners, capturing 43 wickets at 34.1.
Yes, I can hear you screaming, he is 34 years of age.
Personally, I do not see that as a real concern.
Currently, Chris Rogers is doing particularly well at the top of the order but he will turn 37 before next summer and his tenure will be very much short-lived from here.
His place may well be taken by someone like Maddinson who is currently 22.
Two current members of the top-six, David Warner (27) and Steve Smith (24) have potentially many years ahead of them.
That leaves Michael Clarke and Shane Watson, both 32.
Given the tender ages of the likes of Silk and Lynn there are replacements currently being groomed at domestic and Australia A level should Clarke succumb to his back injury or Watson to either form or injury.
The uncapped pair will most likely tour with Australian XIs in the near future.
Brad Haddin, who turns 37 in October, has set the World Cup at the end of next summer as his international swansong.
There are some strong candidates for his role in the shape of Tim Paine (29), Matthew Wade (26), Peter Nevill (28) or perhaps, by then, even Sam Whiteman (21).
Let’s never forget that Michael Hussey debuted at Test level after he turned 30 and went on to make 79 appearances.
The South African tour will be a big test for whoever bats at number six.
For mine, I would like to see Voges in the breach.
He has had success at international level and boasts a first-class career average superior to many of the other untried Test aspirants.
I believe he has the best credentials to succeed against the potent Proteas’ attack in a series that will benchmark just where Australia currently sits in the Test arena.
Armchair expert
Guest
Its interesting that you mentioned Lehmann, he, in the early 2000s, once publicly stated "the selectors have told me the reasons why I haven't been selected and I think it's crap", but it wasn't held against him, didn't cost him future selection and he went on to have a good career, it's a shame Jones and Hodge seemed to have incurred a personal grudge against them and were not selected when they should of been.
Armchair expert
Guest
Have you checked Agar's shield form with both bat and ball this season?, no I didn't think so.
Bearfax
Guest
Years ago, I used to watch Bailey playing for Tasmania and thought he had the makings of a potential test player. Certainly his captaincy has never been questioned and his relaxed friendly manner, attract and quite frankly you want the guy to succeed. If selection was based on personality, he'd be the first chosen. He seems like a really nice guy and if he had managed to improve his batting he would have made an excellent test captain....not that Clarke is seriously flawed s a captain, because I think, despite his apparent personality disputes off field, that he is an excellent on the field test captain. But Bailey never developed and retained the flaws that continue to get him out far more cheaply than they should. The complaints about Hughes pale when looking at the flaws of some of the batsmen that have been tried and failed. Bailey is merely the latest of them. I'm hoping Doolan, who I think will get the No 6 position performs better. But Bailey is a natural for the short form of the game given his swashbuckling style and should be one of the first selected in that form of the game. But he just doesnt seem to have what is needed for test cricket, and taking him to SA and exposing him to Philander and Steyn would be crucifying him. Horses for courses, I think.
Adam
Guest
There is a lot to like about George Bailey, but unfortunately his test match batting so far isn't high on the list. I'm a big fan, but to be honest the oft mentioned technical deficiencies are plain to see. In the dual role of middle order enforcer and innings rebuilder we saw glimpses of the former but unfortunately none of the latter. Fortunately Brad Haddin more than made up for it. Worryingly there was a fair slice of luck involved in most innings which probably makes his series average of 26 a little flattering. I would like nothing better than for George to prevail in RSA but probably too much of a realist to expect too much. On the keeper question, did anyone see Paine's innings the other night against the sixers? Pure cricket shots against Brett Lee and Josh Hazlewood - looked all class despite it being a BBL innings.
ChrisB
Guest
Sure that's the way to go for the future, bring back 2 38 year olds Why are you so sure Hussey was pushed anyway? Not wanting to tour constantly when you have a young family seems a pretty valid reason to me in its own right
Jack Smith
Roar Guru
Also not all of those guys were over 30 however. That is the difference, in context, we have a lot of old players. Do we want a dynasty or a spark? Top for a while > longer to get there while young blokes get worked into the team or top for a brief moment before old players retire? Another thing we have to be wary of is Haddin will probably be gone after next Ashes series too. I'm not talking about a whole remake of the team but if everytime we pick an old player we lead ourselves into a spiral of little experience at some point when a lot of players shuffle off. Also will be easier on older players to retire if we have young cricketers in place in the team or ready and waiting that they won't let the side down by retiring. There are batsmen down there in that age bracket such as Chris Lynn who I think is a good prospect.
Bearfax
Guest
No question that that team failed poorly Abigail. But I think you'll find that it was poor selections and the failure of some of the established players as well that brought that tour to such a bad demise. I mean look at the test batting test line up for the first two tests Cowan Warner Hughes Watson Clarke Wade Henriques They included Maxwell in the second test. Smith only played the last two tests and Khawaja played none so the best young bats other than Warner and Hughes were almost ignored.. Now we know Hughes struggled badly against spin, but so did Watson, Clarke and Wade, and Cowan could offer nothing but his 30 odd average. The best average for the tour was from Smith who averaged 40.25. They were selecting 5 batsmen and at times three all rounders, with only Smith handling the situation. So it wasnt just the young who failed and I suspect sending older guys over there would have done little better,
Chop
Roar Guru
I think now the coach that pushed them is gone, Boof should go to Katich and Hussey and beg them to come back.
Chop
Roar Guru
Agree.
Chop
Roar Guru
Hughes has to survive Steyne and Philander to see Morkel so your point is irrelevent
Chop
Roar Guru
I wish people would stop using T20 form for test consideration..... That's what got Bailey into the team in the first place.... Poor scheduling means it's the only cricket played so who knows what the selectors will come up with????
Chop
Roar Guru
What is your take on Watson ? Significantly better than Bailey. Batting Ave Bailey 26 Watto 38 Plus 8 wickets at 30 for Watson. Seriously no contest....
Bearfax
Guest
Voges is 34. Khawaja has just turned 27, Hughes has just turned 25. Very big difference. Voges has a reasonable first class average of 41.5 while Khawaja has gone through a poor period and is down to 39.7. Hughes though is 45.5. Voges may improve a little but I cant see his average exceeding 42-43. Khawaja I suspect will come back and by his thirties average in the high 40s. Hughes will probably end up in the mid to high 50s. Ergo Voges chances for test selection, though not ended, are pretty limited. Khawaja may take another year to get back to an average that suits him and should get further test selection. Hughes will be potentially our most prolific batsman of this generation (Maddinson may eclipse him later). I cannot see such a heavy scorer not getting back into the Oz side and succeeding.
AlanKC
Guest
Perhaps I should have said first innings rather than every innings. Apart from Adelaide, Australia were in awful trouble in every 1st innings. Bailey contributed 11 runs across 4 first innings bats (plus 55 at Adelaide). If we hadn't won those tests (largely on the back of Haddin's 289 runs in those 4 first innings) there wouldn't even be a debate over George's future. Having said that they'll take him to SA and I hope he scores a ton of runs and I'll happily eat my humble pie but until then 5 tests in a row against increasingly demoralised opposition marks his cards.
abigail
Guest
CA focused on youth, potential and picking future stars when it selected the squad to tour India last year. It was a disaster. I'll take their current selection criteria any day. It has produced a cohesive, confident and winning group.
Bearfax
Guest
Its not just potential Pat. Its present results. These younger batsmen are already on average outperforming the 30 something batsmen other than Rogers, Hussey and Clarke. North and Smith are having a good year but their averages are still quite average when considering test players. Hughes is scoring almost 46, Lynn 43, Burns 41, Maddinson 40. The best of the 30 Something batsmen are Voges 41.5, North 41, White 41. Potential is important especially when you look at these 30 Something batsmen who've been around for years, and a bunch of youngsters who are already eclipsing them. Good averages and potential. I know who I'd be picking.
Bearfax
Guest
Fundamental adage used by cricketers (and others sports) for as long as the game has been played, is that you select your 11 best players and then choose your captain from that group. The other 10 players in the present Oz side are arguably the best or close to best players we have at this time for the positions they took. Bailey though is far from one of the best First Class batsmen in the Australian game. He's an excellent exponent of the two short form games. But he's averaging 20 in the last 2 years in Shield cricket. He should never have been selected in the first place especially when we have a group of younger, better performed batsmen coming through. Now that he has been selected, only Cowan and Hughes in the last three or four years have struggled and received the latitude Bailey has received in playing a full series. And Bailey's performance with the bat is less than both of them. Australia needs new blood in the team; batsmen who may struggle at first but have far greater promise than a 30 something batsman with a FC average under 38. Keep Bailey, Finch, Marsh, Voges etc in the shorter form game where their skills better suit.
Bearfax
Guest
I respect what you are saying Brett. They used to say the same thing about Smith. But the point is that he is outscoring , on average, all but a few batsmen in all forms of the game. He scored a 50+ last night and he's averaging this year in Shield 61 and over two years 58. If you are seeing him struggling at present and he's outperforming most other players, then what must he produce when does start hitting it sweetly. I would much prefer a struggling Hughes who still scores heavily, to an attractive swashbuckler who seems to have excellent timing and style but is more likely to be out cheaply. Lets face it Brett. The game's number one aim is runs on the board. Other factors may be desirable, but if the runs arent scored, it becomes irrelevant how pretty your play was.
Stephen
Guest
Correct Smick. You can add (not just under Ponting), Dean Jones, Greg Mathews etc. Even the great Keith Miller was gone if Bradman had his way. But that's life isn't it? We've probably all worked with someone who is a poor cultural fit. They can be disruptive. Lehmann has reminded me the importance of the 'collective' outcome possible when unity prevails.
Shmick
Guest
Yes, I believe Ponting and him didn't see eye to eye and Ricky said he didn't want to play in the same team as Hodge.