Quite an interesting discussion seeing as it is so far away but it's one the selectors will have very soon you would think.
Australia
The Openers
They'd be looking to establish a solid opening pair, Phil Jaques has got a great first class record and has the advantage of having played a few tests already becuase of Langer being injured. His storkeplay is fairly unique and unorthodox but his stats speak for themselves. I think he will pretty much be a lock for the Test side once one or both of Hayden and Langer retire. Who takes the other end will be interesting. Chris Rogers has been doing pretty well in his last few seasons of domestic cricket. This season he already has 799 runs @ 88.77, in 05/06 he got 794 @ 41.78, and in 04/05 he got 645 @ 43. The only thing that might count against him is the fact that he is left handed and the selectors might look for a left/right combination if they can find a right hander good enough. Tim Paine is a chance to play as a batsman in this case, even though he is only very young and inexperienced at the momment, the opportunity is there for him to build a solid foundation in first class cricket and challenge for the opening role. I don't think another opener is in the same class as these three at the momment who will be around for the next ashes.
The Batsman
Obviously Ponting and Hussey will be there as long as there isn't some major fall from form and no big injuries, they would be at three and four respectively, so looking for batsman at number five and possibly six is what they'll seek to do. Clarke has come back in this Ashes series and proven that he can play with more discipline than what he was showing before he got dropped. If they are sizing him up to be the future captain after Ponting departs you would assume he will be playing a lot of cricket in the baggy green leading up to that. He's always had the potential to accomplish great things, and with the current series and future series leading up to the next Ashes he can hopefully accomplish what he is capable of. Symonds has also demonstrated that he can play well in the big arena. He's always been a very very good first class batsman and with his maiden Test ton under his belt, maybe this is the turning point for him as a Test player and he can continue to play as a batsman first, bowler second. Shane Watson should come back well after his hamstring tear and could cement a place with a big score given that he gets the opportunity to do such a thing. His bowling has improved over the last 6-12 months and if it continues to improve he can develop into a Test all-rounder, but his batting is good enough for him to play as a batsman. He would be the logical choice for position number six if we ever decide to play two spinners once Warne retires. Cam White is on the fringe of breaking into the side, he keeps on getting reasonable scores, and has the bonus of having a great season in England as well as great leadership qualities. His captaincy of Victoria this season has been excellent, he makes the bowling changes at the right times, uses the right bowlers in the conditions, and sets fields perfectly. He has a great understanding of how the game works, and has the potential to leapfrog Clarke in the captaincy race. He's a batsman who is also capable of building a big innings under pressure because of a collapse or poor conditions, and he can also come out and through the bat around and score at better than a run a ball. Adam Voges is a player that is obviously in the selectors minds, with his call up into the Test squad at Perth. Even though he is known for his 62 ball century in an ING cup game (though it was played in a cake tin), he is a batsman that plays himself in slowly and plays his innings with a lot of maturity. You only have to look at his career first class strike rate of less than 50 to know he's not a player that generally throughs the bat at everything like his record performance suggets. He is also capable of bowling a few overs if needed and can get crucial wickets, much like Clarke. Brad Hodge has the uncanny knack of getting injured at the wrong times. I am almost certain he would have been in the squad for the Perth test had he not been injured. he is a run machine and has been getting big scores consistently at first class level whether it be for Victoria or Lancashire. 14000+ first class runs and 44 hundreds demonstrates that, and he has proven he can play at Test level scoring his double century against South Africa. Buchanan has said he is suspect just outside off stump early in his innings and thats why he was dropped from the squad for Martyn, but it's just one of those BS excuses the selectors come up with when they can't squeeze a player into the squad, much like the Jaques can't field comment. I don't think there are many players who are particularly strong just outside off stump. Though in his last Test at the SCG did exploit a weakness that he has. In the last over of the second day South Africa removed fine leg and put Rudolph into short leg, and they bowled at his hips, and Hodge thought "here's an easy four runs" and went to clip it down to fine leg, only to have it put straight up to Rudoplh at short leg. It showed that even though he had a mountain of runs at first class level and a 200* at test level, he still lacked that touch of maturity in his game that seperates the players who can bat at test level and those that cannot. All he had to do was survive the last over, but he chose to go for runs, and came off looking the fool. But all cricketers make mistakes at times, hopefully it was just one of those silly errors he wont make again if he gets his chance. Luke Pomersbach looks to be an exciting talent who could develop over the next couple of seasons, as do George Bailey and Lloyd Mash, and even Ed Cowan. If Australia get a few key injuries, these guys could be outside chances to make the squad, but they're all still developing their games at the momment.
The Keepers
Assuming Gilchrist retires, there are a few players that could be selected in the squad. Tim Paine could play as a keeper, his glovework in the match against England for the PMXI was very tidy, especially when he was keeping up to the spinners, he looked very sharp. Brad Haddin has been warming the reserves bench for a while now, he's a fairly smart cricketer and he can bat, with 7 first class hundreds, and a handy average of 39. But while he has been warming the bench, a very good young keeper has emerged from WA by the name of Luke Ronchi. Ryan Campbell saw this guy coming along and he is the reason Campbell retired from domestic cricket. He is excitement plus when he bats, he smashes the ball everywhere and scores his runs rediculously quickly. I think he will definately be our starting keeper in the one dayers once Gilchrist goes, but he is a chance of poaching the Test position too. He already has a first class average of 42.72 and a strike rate of 83. He is also eligible to play for the Kiwis as he was born there, but he has said that Australia is his preferred country to represent. When he does eventually come in our side, look out!
The Spinners
Stuart MacGill has said that he will aim to play until this series, and that's a good move by him. He is such a great bowler but has been robbed of international opportunites because we've had Shane Warne. However, when he has had the chance to play he has been outstanding, 198 Test wickets @ 27.20. If he lasts as long as he intends to he is clearly the next best spinner we have. Dan Cullen has been rated well by his peers and his opponents, his off spinners have been coming out beautifully over the last couple of seasons, and his award of Young Cricketer of the year didn't surprise anyone. He is quite lippy too for a spinner, always talking to the batsman and that may account for some of his wickets. His stats don't justify how good he potentially is, but he is only 22 years old and still has plenty of time to develop himself into a first class spinner. Nathan Hauritz is also another option, moving to NSW to improve his chances of national selection, he is very sound and can break long partnerships, and has toued with the side before. The other player of interest is Cullen Bailey, who is still very young and inexperienced but his leggies are coming along nicely.
The Quicks
This is an area of great interest to many Aussie fans. When Mick Lewis was getting belted around all over the shop in South Africa there was panic by the fans, saying that there is a lack of depth in our fast bowling department, but that couldn't be further from the truth if you ask me. Hopefully Brett Lee will make it to this series, his age is not ancient just yet but because he is such a fast bowler, the body may take it's toll on him. He would be the strike bowler for us, his accuracy is absolutely outstanding for his pace, he could really dominate sides in a couple of years time. I can see Sean Tait opening up with him, giving us a two pronged pace explosion and tearing through opposition sides and scaring them into defeat. Tait has an excellent first class record, including record number of wickets in a Pura Cup season. He can be erratic at times but that is half the fun of him, with batsman not quite sure where the next ball is going to come. A perfect example of this is the way he got Flintoff out in the PMXI game in Canberra, Flintoff was expecting a workover off short stuff, and Tait ripped in a beauty of a yorker which Flintoff tried to play off the back foot, and got nowhere near it. Stuart Clark is an excellent first change bowler, his line and length are excellent, he seams the ball, he swings the ball, he cuts it both ways and uses his variation of pace excellently. He is another very smart bowler who is always trying things and is usually one step ahead of the batsman. If he isn't taking wickets, he is that miserly that he causes wickets to fall at the other end. Nathan Bracken is a quality swing bowling who can slow his pace right down and have the glovesman keeping up to him and bowl cutters too, plus having a left armer in this squad always helps with a varied attack. Mitchell Johnson is an exciting young prospect, as is Ben Hilfenhaus who has been lights out so far this Pura Cup season, almost winning the last game Tassie played by himself.
What I suspect our stronger XI will be next Ashes
P Jaques
C Rogers
R Ponting
M Hussey
M Clarke
C White / S Watson
A Gilchrist
B Lee
S MacGill
S Clark
S Tait / D Cullen
