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Opinion
Despite being champions, Ashes holders and a decent chance of winning the series heading into the final day of the fifth Test, Australia’s Test cricketing stocks are looking a little fragile.
More than half their team is in the final stage of their career and the back-up options are either inexperienced in the international arena or have question marks over whether they can succeed at Test level.
By the time the next Ashes series rolls around at the end of 2025, as many as six of Australia’s first-choice XI could be retired.
Australia have historically handled the transition period after legends have retired pretty poorly, particularly in the mid 1980s when Greg Chappell, Dennis Lillee and Rod Marsh quit simultaneously and 15 years ago after Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Justin Langer did likewise.
The current selectors need to be mindful of phasing out the big names to usher in new faces gradually rather than an abrupt period where untried players are thrown to the lions en masse.
David Warner. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)
But as we’ve seen by their reluctance to make the tough call to get rid of underperforming stalwarts like David Warner in the Test team and white-ball skipper Aaron Finch late last year, the selectors have not forged a reputation for being particularly proactive.
Warner is trying to cling onto his place to engineer an SCG farewell in January, and his thus far unbeaten 58 in the second innings at The Oval could be enough to get him there, while his fellow 36-year-old opening partner Usman Khawaja is also in the twilight of his career.
After his renaissance over the past 18 months, Australia will need Khawaja to keep on keeping on for another year at least so they don’t begin the post-Warner era with two new openers.
Steve Smith at 34 has thrown out a few breadcrumbs in recent months to suggest he could give up Test cricket earlier than most people expert but reiterated before this clash at The Oval that he won’t be retiring anytime soon.
Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head are seen as the two established batters for Australia to build their line-up around once Smith brings down the curtain on his record-breaking career but they each have flaws.
Labuschagne has been unable to convert his dominance in Australia to foreign wickets while opposing bowlers will be aiming at Head’s noggin after England’s successful strategy of short-pitch bowling to curtail the strokemaker.
Cameron Green projects to become a world-class all-rounder but he is doing well without having a major impact at this stage of his career in both departments.
Usman Khawaja. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
His only century in 24 Tests was on the Ahmedabad featherbed at the end of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in March.
Mitchell Marsh’s unexpected resurgence in the Ashes could be a short-term bonus for Australia if the 31-year-old can stay injury free and be consistent with the bat but they are two very big ifs going on his first decade of international cricket.
When it comes to the batting depth at the top of the order, Matt Renshaw and Marcus Harris appear to be at the front of the queue after they’ve each had a couple of cracks previously at cementing a spot.
Cameron Bancroft is 30 and has a similar record to those two from his prior stints in the Test side while Will Pucovski is the wild card.
He had been ordained as a potential long-term opener when he was handed his debut two years ago after a mountain of runs for Victoria but his career has been hampered by concussion and mental health issues.
The middle-order depth should be of particular concern to the selectors.
Peter Handscomb was the only batter banging down the selection door at Sheffield Shield level last season and the 32-year-old, who has just two centuries from 20 Tests, will probably only get one more stint in the side to lock in a spot before selectors turn to a younger option.
The problem there is that young prospects like West Australian Teague Wyllie and Victoria’s Ashley Chandrasinghe are still a couple of years away from being truly ready for the next level.
A similar problem is on the horizon for the pace bowling attack with the success and durability of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood creating a yawning gap in experience among the quicks looking to replace them in the coming years.
Jhye Richardson, with three matches in 2019-21, is the only fast bowler under 30 in Australia with a Test wicket to their name.
Seasoned back-up duo Michael Neser and Scott Boland are 33 and 34 so neither is a long-term solution.
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Young West Australian speedster Lance Morris was given a taste of the Australian dressing room last summer and on the tour of India, and once he’s over his back injury, he needs to be fast-tracked into the line-up.
With a three-Test series at home against Pakistan followed by two more against the West Indies, the selectors will never get a better chance to inject some much-needed young blood into the fast bowling cartel.
The emergence of Todd Murphy means Australia have an heir apparent in the spin department when Nathan Lyon decides he no longer wants to remain king of the jungle.
Josh Hazlewood. (Photo by John Walton/PA Images via Getty Images)
Despite his Ashes campaign ending early with a torn calf, the 35-year-old record-breaking off-spinner is adamant he wants to continue adding to his 496 Test wickets for another few years. And while Murphy is the future, Lyon is still the present – you only need to look at how the Aussies missed his overall contributions in these past three Tests to understand his value.
Warner is the only Australian veteran who has laid out their retirement plans but with a one-day World Cup in India in October followed by the T20 version in the US and Caribbean next year, it shapes as a watershed time for the mulit-format members of the older brigade to streamline their workload.
The fact that Khawaja and Lyon are Test specialists means they could still be around for the next Ashes joust.
But it’s likely Smith, Starc, Hazlewood and Cummins will need to concentrate on one or two, at the most, versions of the game if they want to prolong their international careers to be around for the Ashes rematch in 2025-26.