Australia is about to head into two Ashes campaigns within the next year, with the immediate series likely to be Darren Lehmann’s last campaign against England on home soil.
Now is the time to look to the future of Australian cricket as Australians have no Asian Test matches between now and next summer. This summer is last chance for Darren Lehmann to leave his legacy before his successor takes over.
Two key players that will be looking for a big Australian summer and tour of South Africa to cement themselves as long-term Test players are Glenn Maxwell and Matthew Wade, as pressure is starting to mount on their positions in the side.
If Maxwell and Wade were to be replaced, this is what the best Australian team could look for this year’s Ashes series and the 2018-19 Australian summer.
Matthew Renshaw
The partnership Matt Renshaw has with David Warner is the best opening partnership Australia has produced since Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer, as Renshaw plays the consistent accumulator giving Warner the opportunity to dominate. In saying that, in the first round of Sheffield Shield games Renshaw failed to fire, scoring 16 and 17, so he will be wanting a big score as the Ashes approaches.
David Warner
If Matthew Renshaw has a good summer and can play second fiddle like he has shown in the past, this will allow Warner to really dominate the English bowling attack.
Usman Khawaja
Usman Khawaja is one of the best players in Australian conditions as recent Sheffield Shield form has shown, with Khawaja scoring 40 and 122 playing against a full-strength Victorian side.
Steve Smith (c)
Steve Smith’s reputation speaks for itself, however Smith will be looking to spend some much-needed time at the crease after failing to make double figures in the first-round match against South Australia.
Peter Handscomb (wk)
Handscomb is the glue holding the Australian middle order together. In Handscomb’s first ten matches in Test cricket, he is averaging just over 53 runs despite many of them being played in the sub-continent.
(AAP Image/Paul Miller)
Moises Henriques
Henriques should be chosen over Hilton Cartwright as last season he had the fourth best batting average and bowls some tidy medium fast overs. In the sub-continent, he struggled, however on Australian soil he has a great first class record, shown be him being named captain of the team of the year.
Ashton Agar
Mark Waugh said it best last year when he was quoted as saying “I do not see the point of having two off break bowlers in the same side.”This point was proven in the tour of Bangladesh when Glenn Maxwell was found ineffective against Bangladesh while Nathan Lyon and Ashton Agar tore open the Bangladeshi batting in a short period. Agar also has a better batting average with an average of 32 compared to Maxwell’s average of 27.
Mitchell Starc
Starc is just finding some form after an injury which is a scary sight for England as he starts to bowl more overs. Starc would also benefit from the all-rounders in the side as he could bowl quality overs without the heavier workload.
Pat Cummins
I get a sense that England are going to get from Pat Cummins what Mitchell Johnson produced in the 2013-14 Ashes. It was during a tour of India when Johnson found his pace that led into the Ashes and Cummins’ recent tours of India and Bangladesh really showed the raw pace he can produce without the help of the pitch.
Josh Hazlewood
Hazlewood is the closest bowler to Glenn McGrath we’ve seen since McGrath’s retirement. Hazlewood is similar with his accuracy, which has led him to sixth in the ICC bowling rankings, but what is often overlooked with Hazlewood is his match fitness – he rarely misses a game playing all three formats.
Nathan Lyon
Lyon is Australia’s best spin bowler since the great Shane Warne. Oppositions sometimes forget about how good Lyon is as Australia has such a strong pace attack and Lyon uses this to advantage as batsmen target him for quick runs.
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