Australia's next-gen Test XI: Head and Green stay, but who will replace the old guard?

For much of the last decade, the Australia Test team have rarely had to think beyond the immediate future. The current generation has kept winning, making the question of succession an easy one to postpone. Their latest Test series, however, offered a timely reminder that the future might not always wait for the present to make room for it.

Bangladesh arrived in Darwin as huge underdogs and left with a historic nine-wicket victory, their first Test win in Australia. Australia responded a week later in Mackay, winning inside two days as Mitchell Starc took 10 wickets, leaving the series level at 1-1. But the scoreline should not disguise the significance of what happened in Darwin. For the first time in this long period of dominance, Australia were beaten at home by a team few expected to seriously trouble them.

Even so, there is little reason to rip up a side that has been so successful. Australia won the World Test Championship in 2023, reached the final again in 2025 and have spent much of the period with little reason to disrupt a settled XI. The Bangladesh series was no different in that respect: one startling defeat was followed by a dominant response.

But that success has also created a problem which Australia have been able to postpone rather than solve. Since the WTC began in August 2019, they have had just 15 Test debutants, the fewest of any team. Those players have made 162 appearances in total, but three players account for two-thirds of them: Alex Carey, Cameron Green and Scott Boland have made 108 appearances between them. The other 12 debutants have managed only 54 appearances.

In other words, Australia have not just introduced fewer new players than their rivals; very few of those have been able to establish themselves as long-term members of the XI. Only Bangladesh have had both a lower proportion of new players and a smaller share of their total appearances. All other teams are ahead of Australia on these two metrics.

The age profile tells much the same story. Less than 17 per cent of Australia’s appearances since the start of the WTC era have come from players aged 27 or younger, comfortably among the lowest figures in Test cricket. At the other end, 48.44 per cent have come from players aged 32 or older, the highest proportion of any team. Across successive WTC cycles, Australia’s appearances have steadily shifted towards the older age brackets rather than being replenished by younger players. The reason is fairly simple: with established players continuing to perform, there has been little space, or need, for Australia to turn to those coming through behind them.

This is not necessarily a criticism of Australia’s selection policy. They have been too good for too long to justify making changes for the sake of change. But it has left the next generation with fewer opportunities to establish itself, while the current one has moved further into the latter stages of their careers.

Now, the questions that have been waiting in the background are becoming harder to ignore. When this group of world-dominant players is finally gone, what will Australia’s XI look like?

1. Nathan McSweeney

McSweeney made his debut against India during the 2024-25 season and was dropped from the team after the third Test of the same series. He could muster only 72 runs in six innings at 14.4. However, he remains on the radar for the selectors. The 27-year-old has led Australia A in the last couple of series and impressed with an unbeaten 226 against England Lions in December last year. He has also been amongst the run-scorers in other series while playing for the A team. McSweeney has showcased good form in the County Championship this season, scoring 638 runs at 45.57 with three tons and two fifties. With several candidates failing to seal a long-term slot, Australia's opening woes need desperate solutions. Though McSweeney has been tried - and discarded - he boasts the best numbers among the options and should be given another look in despite a disappointing first Test stint.

2. Travis Head

Head didn’t start his career as an opener but has done exceptionally well at the top of the order so far. The southpaw has scored 990 runs in 12 Tests at the top, at an average of 52.1 with three tons and two fifties. His ability to take the game away from the opposition with his free-flowing strokeplay makes him special. At 32 and having recently been ranked the world’s No.1 Test batter, Head should remain as the incumbent opener for the foreseeable future, unless he opts to return to the middle order.

3. Oliver Peake

Oliver Peake is considered as the next big thing in Australia. He hogged the headlines for his unbeaten 46 against India at the age of 17 to help his team lift the U19 World Cup title in 2024. He scored a half-century on his Shield debut in March 2025, after which the selectors fast-tracked him to the Australia A team, where he impressed with consistent scores in red-ball and white-ball formats. Despite a great start, his first-class numbers have gone down and he averages only 26 after 23 innings. The 19-year-old made his ODI debut earlier this year, and he could eventually take over at No.3 from Marnus Labuschagne, with his Test debut likely in the next few years if his first-class form improves.

4. Jason Sangha

Sangha could be the number four batter for Australia after Steve Smith hangs up his gloves. He led Australia A in July last year when Sri Lanka A toured down under and also scored an unbeaten 202 in the first unofficial Test. The 26-year-old has also fared decently in the Sheffield Shield for South Australia. He scored 704 runs in 12 innings at 78.2 in the 2024-25 season and backed it up with 571 runs in the previous season in 19 innings. He was also picked in the Australia men’s development squad that participated in the training camp at the MRF Pace Academy, which helps young Australian cricketers learn how to play in sub-continent conditions. Sangha has yet to break into a packed middle order but could take over Steve Smith’s No.4 spot in the next couple of years if his strong domestic form continues.

5. Cooper Connolly

Cooper Connolly is rated very highly in Australia and, in a way, things did happen quickly for him. He made his international debut across all formats in the space of five months, from September 2024 to January 2025. Australia head coach Andrew McDonald spoke highly of him ahead of his Test debut in Sri Lanka last year. Connolly impressed in tough conditions earlier this year, scoring 149 in an ODI against Bangladesh in Mirpur. He can rise in clutch moments and showcased his ability to do so on his Shield debut in the final of the 2023-24 season, smashing 90 runs. Connolly has already played 12 ODIs and 14 T20Is, and it won’t be long before he adds to his only Test cap. But with Australia’s Test side still packed with established batters, he may have to wait for a regular opening before adding to his lone Test cap.

6. Cameron Green

Despite recent scrutiny over his Test form and consistency, Green, at just 27, remains the first-choice fast-bowling all-rounder and a key point of stability in Australia’s top six transition. Green has already played 39 Tests, scoring 1920 runs at 34.28 with three centuries and eight fifties. He has also picked up 39 wickets at 39.82 with a five-wicket haul to his credit. Having scored timely runs in the Bangladesh series, Green has a chance to cement his place for the long term and even guide the youngsters in the team when Australia effectively enters transition.

7. Joel Curtis (wk)

The left-hander takes the gloves in Western Australia when Josh Philippe is unavailable, and finished last season with 349 runs at 23.26 with 33 dismissals. He is still a work in progress with the bat in first-class cricket, but has shown range: His unbeaten 119 off 239 balls against Victoria in 2024 helped his team recover from 54-3 to post 325, and he finished the last season of the One-Day Cup with 431 runs at 61.57, the third-highest in the competition. Alex Carey is 35 and will retire sooner rather than later, while his back-up, Josh Inglis, has shown he can contribute in Test cricket but remains primarily a white-ball player. Other candidates such as Jake Doran are aging, while Sam Harper is primarily an opener.

8. Corey Rocchiccioli

Rocchiccioli seems set to pip Todd Murphy as the spinner in the side, whose seven Tests have brought 22 wickets but no sustained claim to the position. Rocchiccioli has taken 38 wickets in each of the last two Shield seasons and 122 at 27.81 across the last three, earning Shield Team of the Season honours for a third straight year. A tall off-spinner, he generates unusual bounce and has learnt to make himself effective even on the WACA’s greener surfaces. The 28-year-old has been picked in the A teams against India and England recently, and also picked up 16 wickets in seven innings in the County Championship for Warwickshire last year. He has been kept out primarily by Nathan Lyon’s long-standing hold on the spinner’s spot, while Australia’s other spin options have also failed to make a sustained case when a second spinner has been required, but he could be a top pick to head to India next year.

9. Will Sutherland

Sutherland is arguably the best fit to eventually take over from Pat Cummins as Australia’s lower-order seam-bowling option, although his role would be slightly more batting-heavy at No.9. He has not broken into the Test side yet because Australia’s current pace attack has been so strong, with Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Scott Boland difficult to displace. Sutherland’s ability to bowl long spells, take the new ball and contribute useful runs gives him a similar all-round value to Cummins, while his 6ft 5in frame offers extra bounce. The 26-year-old took 24 wickets at 25.5 in the 2025-26 Shield alongside making 366 runs at 30.50 with one hundred, and captained Victoria to the final. He has also played two ODIs for Australia and was recently selected for Australia A, giving him experience around the national set-up.

10. Fergus O’Neill

O’Neill is arguably the best near-term bet to break into Australia’s Test attack. The 6ft 4in Victorian is a strong, bustling seamer who hits the deck hard and generates awkward bounce, rather than relying on outright pace. With Hazlewood the closest stylistic comparison, O’Neill could get his chance as early as the next rotation or injury, and looks well placed to seal a place when a permanent opening emerges. He took 35 wickets at 18.80 in the 2025-26 Shield, after 38 at 21.07 the previous season, and also left his mark in the County Championship, taking 21 wickets at 17.9 last season. His first-class record is equally striking: 200 wickets at 19.43, while his batting average of almost 27 makes him a useful batter at No.10.

11. Mahli Beardman

Beardman is one for the longer term, having yet to play first-class cricket and still needing to prove he can sustain his pace and fitness over longer spells. He could get his first Test opportunity as early as the next couple of years if he progresses well, with his pace and new-ball bowling making him a natural long-term successor to Starc. The 20-year-old is among the fastest bowlers in Australia, regularly exceeding 145kph, combining his pace with the ability to swing the new ball. Mentored by Dennis Lillee, he announced himself at the 2024 Under-19 World Cup, taking 3-15 against India in the final, finishing the tournament with 10 wickets at 10.50. He has since made waves in the senior side, be it training with the Test team or serving as an ODI standby in 2024 before making his T20I debut in 2026. A back stress fracture interrupted his progress last summer, but Australia already have their eyes on him.

*With inputs from Sarah Waris

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