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Which Aussie Test star will be the next to make retirement call?
Lachlan Geleit, SENÂ âą Â November 13th, 2024 8:58 am
Much has been said about Australiaâs aging Test team ahead of this summerâs series against India.
The expected first Test team against India is set to have only one player under the age of 30 in new opener Nathan McSweeney who, like Cameron Green, is 25.
With the other 10 players in their 30s and four of those 34 or older in Usman Khawaja (37), Nathan Lyon (36), Steve Smith (35) and Mitchell Starc (34) all close to the end, SEN Cricketâs Adam White was asked who he felt the next to retire would be after David Warner stepped away last summer.
White expects Starc to be the first to call it quits given the difficulties of pace bowling and he also believes that Cricket Australia must try and stagger these retirements in the coming years to ensure the team remains competitive at the top of world cricket.
âThatâs a good question, I think it will be Starc,â White said on SEN Sportsday.
âI think it will be Starc and they've got to stagger them because we canât have a situation that weâve had in previous generations where four or five retire at the same time.Â
âThat's the batting and the bowling ⊠a lot of them will want to go to the next Ashes in the UK.Â
âI donât think Steve Smith gets there.â
Due to the XIâs aging demographic, White believes that getting McSweeney into the side was clearly the right call despite being a huge advocate of Victoriaâs Marcus Harris who is currently 32.
âThey made the right decision with Nathan McSweeney, he was the one they needed to get in,â White said.
âHeâs 25, can he open the batting? We'll find out. But he can certainly bat in the top order.Â
âThey need to get some younger players in.â
Other young players who are in and around Australian selection include Green (25), Sam Konstas (19), Jake Fraser-McGurk (22), Cooper Connolly (21), Xavier Bartlett (25), Aaron Hardie (25), Lance Morris (26) and Will Sutherland (25).
