Selectors send clear message to hopefuls

The message from Australian selectors to Test aspirants is clear: age is no barrier and nothing counts more than performance.

An uncapped trio of players were today selected in Australia's Test squad for the upcoming tours of the West Indies and the UK on the back of record-breaking performances in the Bupa Sheffield Shield this season.

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Western Australia's 35-year-old skipper Adam Voges, Victoria's 33-year-old leg-spinner Fawad Ahmed and NSW's Peter Nevill, just 29, were all elevated into Australia's 16-man squad for the winter Tests, and National Selector Rod Marsh says it's proof that the domestic game remains as relevant as ever.

"We've said it before in past, John Inverarity and others in this chair always said that performances are a must," said Marsh.

"If you want to succeed at the next level you've got to perform at the level below that.

"There is still room for a gut feel (selection) about someone, if you really feel someone can make it and perhaps hasn't done as well as someone else but you think he might be a better player.

"Sometimes you just have to go with that gut feel, but it's that important we have people knocking down the door.

"We want our job to be really, really difficult and that's the way it should be. If we're going to be strong, that's how it has to be."

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Top of the list of record-breakers this season has been Voges, who stormed into Test calculations with a 1358-run season, the fourth best in Shield history.

The WA skipper scored six centuries and five half-centuries in 11 matches for the Warriors, including a hundred in the final against Victoria.

A strong performance in the Shield final was also behind the selection of Ahmed, who took a record haul of 8-89 in the first innings of the Bushrangers' win over Voges's Warriors.

Ahmed's performance in the final took his season tally to 48 wickets and secured top spot on the list of the competition's highest wicket-takers.

Nevill, who will embark on his second Test tour of the West Indies having been back-up to Matthew Wade's in the Caribbean in 2012, will this time be deputy wicketkeeper to Brad Haddin.

The Victorian-born Blues 'keeper is coming off a season that yielded 764 runs in 10 matches, including an unbeaten 235 against Tasmania, which saw him become just the second NSW wicketkeeper after Billy Murdoch to score a double-century.

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Voges said his selection not only validated his Shield performances but also sent the message that age was no barrier to a Test call-up.

"I still had hope," the 35-year-old said.

"You always have hope but I guess when you're 35 you're never too sure if age is going to count against you.

"But I guess the selectors have shown if you are performing at domestic level there are still opportunities. That's really exciting.

"It's what I've been trying to do for the past 15 years.

"It's been a long road, it's been a hard road, but I wouldn't have expected it any other way. It's a tough team to get into, the Australian cricket team."

Voges is the oldest Australian to receive a Test call-up since his former state teammate Chris Rogers, who was given a second chance at Test level when selected for the 2013 Ashes at the age of 35.

Rogers has thrived in his latest incarnation as a Test cricketer, and Voges says the example set by Rogers and Mike Hussey – who earned a Test debut aged 30 – sends a positive message to all cricketers performing well at state level.

"No doubt, Mike Hussey and Chris Rogers have shown that guys who come in with a big domestic record and have played a lot of cricket can have success at Test level," Voges said.

"That's always given me hope, even though there have been times it's felt like this mightn't ever happen.

"Seeing what those guys have done has always been in the back of my mind and given me hope that if I played well enough my chance would come around.

"If I do get an opportunity to wear the Baggy Green I'll certainly be confident and ready to play."

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The 2015 Ashes is the only Test tour of the UK scheduled between now and the 2019 World Cup, meaning it will likely be the final Ashes tour for a host of players in the squad.

Voges joins Ryan Harris (35), Brad Haddin (37) and Rogers (37) as one of four members of the squad aged 35 or older, while Michael Clarke, Shane Watson, Mitchell Johnson and Ahmed are all aged 33.

Marsh said the older players in the group still have the hunger to succeed and their quality meant any thought of favouring younger players was quickly discarded.

"It's always difficult getting the right balance of ages and experience," Marsh said.

"I think we've got enough hunger in there to be able to allow these senior players the opportunity of yet another series.

"We thought long and hard about Chris Rogers; we've got to be honest here, how long can he keep going?

"We thought are we doing the right thing by a younger batsman?. But then the overruling thing is are we doing the right thing by Australia?. What's the most important thing?

"We decided his experience over there will be invaluable, as it was last time, and we just had to give him another go."