By Lorenzo Di-Mauro Hayes, ACS Journalism Scholar (mentored by The Footy Almanac‘s John Harms).
It’s March 2027. There is a great buzz all around the MCG as play is about to start for the 150th anniversary Test match. The bowler has the new ball in hand and, like it or not, it’s pink. But what about that Australian team? Who will be the eleven men who suit up to mark this historic occasion? It’s never too early to speculate, so here’s what we might see in the near future. This is not the future, mind you, just a future.
The openers:
- Jake Weatherald
- Campbell Kellaway
Weatherald was the logical choice of opener at the start of the 2025-26 Ashes series. No one else had played as well at Sheffield Shield level. However, he never really got going during the summer. He would get off to a good start and then get out at the most inopportune time. While Weatherald is yet to really shine in Test cricket, there doesn’t seem to be anyone else who can knock him out, except for maybe a certain Campbell Kellaway. Something has to go really wrong for Kellaway not to play for Australia at this point. Speaking to the Australian Cricket Society last year, Kellaway was very confident about the direction of his career at that point. His stock and the cricket world’s awareness of him has only grown off the back of the 2025-26 summer appearances in the Sheffield Shield and the Big Bash. By March 2027, expect him to be banging down the door if he is not through already. He gives Australia a chance to try something different at the top of the order and allows some new blood into the dressing room.
Rest of the specialist batsmen:
- Marnus Labuschagne
- Steve Smith
- Travis Head
No real surprises here. Labuschangne has found form again after a lacklustre several months, from the start of the 2025-26 Sheffield Shield. Steve Smith is still Steve Smith and his recent time in the Big Bash shows he is as hungry as ever to make big scores. Lastly, Travis Head has been pushed back to five in this scenario. There is certainly still a path for Head to remain an opener for the rest of his career, but at some time the selectors are going to have to look to somebody new. Head will still play well at number five, if he is moved back there. This could really go either way, but the more interesting option is to let a new face open the batting. This is an important decision that would have implications on who else bats in the top five.
The middle-order:
- Alex Carey (Wicketkeeper)
- Beau Webster
When Australia’s top-order has been in trouble, which has been a regular occurrence, usually one or more of three men come to the rescue: Head, Smith or Alex Carey. Carey now sits as the best wicketkeeper in the world and he has done so after being launched into the Test sides in 2021 after Tim Paine’s fall from grace. Any concerns about Carey being more of a white-ball cricketer were eased after that first series and there is no reason to imagine he won’t be in the side in 2027. Beau Webster, for his part, is plain and simply the best all-rounder option the Australians have at the moment. He is able to take wickets with both his right-arm medium and his off-spin giving the Australian team great variety. More than competent with the bat, Webster has already made five scores of 50+ in the eight Test matches he has played in so far. He has won the right for more opportunities. He wasn’t the first-choice all-rounder during the Ashes, that was Cam Green, but he has been more reliable recently, which is why he is my pick.
The bowlers:
- Pat Cummins (Captain)
- Mitchell Starc
- Scott Boland
- Nathan Lyon
The bowlers are an interesting case. They simultaneously pick themselves but also have an asterisk over all of them. You just can’t be sure how fit they will be when we get to the match. However, if fitness is no problem and they haven’t recently broken down, Cummins, Starc and Boland feel the most likely candidates for an MCG pitch. Now the spin option is of much interest. Nathan Lyon still wants that one last tour of England but it’s impossible to know if the selectors will even want to play a spinner in the match. Lyon is there, should they want one. The big problem with Lyon is he will be 39 at the time this match will be played. The body can only hold up for so long, so even if they want to play a spinner, he may not be the fittest candidate. With that in mind, these aren’t the selectors only choices. There are a group of players waiting on the outside looking in. Hazlewood is of course in play as well. If he is fit and playing well, he could take the spot of a spinner or even another pace bowler if they are not at 100%. As special as this occasion is, with an Ashes in England later in the year, the selectors won’t want to take any unnecessary risk.
Best of the rest:
The trickiest part of such an exercise is we cannot know for sure the health and condition of all players fourteen months ahead of time. So, it would be remiss not to add some players in each position who could make their way into the side.
Sam Konstas, for example. The former Australian opener has shown some promise in recent Shield appearances. With four matches plus a final left for each state in the 2025-26 season, he and indeed any opener can still yet make their case. That is before we even mention another full season of first-class cricket. He won’t get fazed by the big occasion and may very well be wishing to get another go at something similar to his dazzling Boxing Day debut.
Cam Green is an interesting one. Throughout the back half of the Ashes especially, it felt over and over again that the innings he was playing could be the one where he makes a big score again. He would get off to a great start, only to run himself out or play a false shot which he paid the ultimate price for. If Head remains at the top of the order, Green and Webster can live alongside each other in the middle-order. Confidence levels among the viewing public require more runs from Green though. The selectors have seemingly been a bit more lenient on underperforming players with experience in the side.
If Lyon is not available, Cooper Connolly is the next logical choice, should they play a spinner. He has played one Test match in Sri Lanka in 2025, but has been an important part of the Western Australian state side and the Perth Scorchers. He is currently averaging 45.88 with the bat, it’s only through twelve matches but still makes for impressive reading. Michael Neser also sits in the wings as another pace option should he be needed, which is a very handy safety net to have.
There is still a lot of cricket to be played before the 150th anniversary Test. This is just one of the ways the Australian team might look on that momentous occasion to celebrate Test cricket over a century and a half.
Australian Cricket Society’s literary scholar Lorenzo Di-Mauro Hayes is mentored by writer John Harms. His pieces are also published at www.footyalmanac.com.au .