Ashes winners can forge golden path: Lehmann

Having overseen another home Ashes triumph, Darren Lehmann believes that the current Australia Test line-up can hold together longer than its predecessor and forge a run of success if it continues to evolve and improve.

The team that celebrated their unbeatable 3-0 Magellan Ashes Series lead at a Perth restaurant last night carried a distinctly different appearance to the one that had inflicted a similar rout upon the previous England team to have surrendered the urn four years ago.

Not only in terms of personnel – only skipper Steve Smith, his deputy David Warner and off-spinner Nathan Lyon remain from the XI that secured the Ashes at the WACA Ground in 2013 – there is something decidedly less lived-in about the current outfit.

The line-up that went through the 2013-14 whitewash unchanged boasted an average age of almost 32 when they took the field for the third match of that summer under then captain Michael Clarke, while the team that Smith led out had trimmed that mean figure to 28.5.

With more than half of their number – Smith, Mitchell Marsh, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Cameron Bancroft – still in their 20s.

The altered demographic can, in part, be traced back to a year ago when Australia were humbled in consecutive Test matches by South Africa (in Perth and Hobart) and Smith decided that he wanted his captain's legacy to be shaped by a team that was fresh of spirit as well as face.

While the radical revamp that was applied in those dark days did not bring a permanent solution, with all five of the new players brought in (Matthew Renshaw, Peter Handscomb, Nic Maddinson, Matthew Wade and Jackson Bird) currently out of the side, it signalled a change in direction.

And after a few stumbles over the past year – noticeably in India and then in the first Test of the two-match series in Bangladesh – Lehmann believes the selection panel (of which he is part) have the building blocks to lift their current Test ranking from its current low of fifth.

Perhaps back up to the number one ranking the 'old dogs' claimed in the immediate aftermath of their 2013-14 Ashes success when they secured a rare overseas away win by defeating the Proteas 2-1 in South Africa.

Before a bulk of that outfit was lost to retirement, injury or waning output.

"I'm pretty sure they can hang together this group, they're young enough to play for a few years together and that was the key 12 months ago, even though we've changed some of those younger players," Lehmann said of the selection policy shift implemented after the 2016 Hobart loss.

"This group can hang together for the next 12-18 months, and we've got to always evolve and get better at how we play and who we select and see where we go."

Lehmann also revealed that a couple of the decisions he and his fellow national selection panel members (chair Trevor Hohns, Greg Chappell and Mark Waugh) made for the start of this Ashes campaign were instinct calls.

With the intensity that a Test series against England commands dictating that a couple of older 'hard heads' – in this case, 34-year-old Shaun Marsh and recalled keeper Tim Paine (33) – were needed to buttress the younger members.

Those decisions were vindicated as Marsh produced a match-changing century in the second Test at Adelaide, while Paine's return of 15 catches and several essential lower-order innings has silenced those who questioned his return after seven years out of Test cricket.

"You don't know how it's going to go when you first start, and you cop a lot from media and people alike, that's just the way it is," Lehmann said of the furore that erupted in the wake of the announcement of Australia's squad for the first two Tests last month.

"A couple were (instinct decisions), just going with gut feel to be perfectly honest.

"I'm really pleased for the players that they turned up and played really well, I was impressed by each one of those selections."

The Bupa Support Team men's coach has already identified one of the areas where improvement can be made, despite the thumping nature of their latest Ashes win which came by an innings and 41 runs at the WACA.

Lehmann commended 26-year-old Mitchell Marsh on his maiden Test century that eventually yielded 181, but noted that the allrounder's bowling return (0-57 from 12 overs) was sub-par and needed to be redressed.

Along with his slips catching, having turfed a straightforward chance in England's first innings.

"The challenge for him is to back that up again; one innings doesn't make a cricket career," Lehmann said of the younger Marsh brother.

"I thought his bowling was a little bit disappointing, which he spoke about with me the other day.

"He's got to get his bowling right, his fielding right and his batting and if it all comes together that's fantastic."

Lehmann even threw down the challenge to Smith, the world's top ranked Test batter and man of the match at the WACA for his career-high 239, to continue his remarkable run of form that could see him overtake his captaincy peers when he's ultimately judged at career's end.

"'Pup' (Clarke) and Ricky Ponting, at times, were exceptional captains and exceptional batters, when they were leading the team.," Lehmann said.

"Statistically you only see that at the end I suppose, but the way he's gone about it, averaging 72 or 73 as a Test captain, that's pretty special.

"To see him evolve from his first Test hundred at The Oval (in 2013, soon after Lehmann took over as coach) to now, he just changes his own plans to whatever the bowlers are doing and whatever the wicket's doing and what the game needs.

"He's just gone to another level."

2017-18 International Fixtures

Magellan Ashes Series

Australia Test squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Cameron Bancroft, Usman Khawaja, Peter Handscomb, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine (wk), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Jackson Bird.

England Test squad: Joe Root (c), James Anderson (vc), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Gary Ballance, Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook, Mason Crane, Tom Curran, Ben Foakes, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Ben Stokes, Mark Stoneman, James Vince, Chris Woakes.

First Test Australia won by 10 wickets. Scorecard

Second Test Australia won by 120 runs (Day-Night). Scorecard

Third Test Australia won by an innings and 41 runs. Scorecard

Fourth Test MCG, December 26-30. Tickets

Fifth Test SCG, January 4-8 (Pink Test). Tickets

Gillette ODI Series v England

First ODI MCG, January 14. Tickets

Second ODI Gabba, January 19. Tickets

Third ODI SCG, January 21. Tickets

Fourth ODI Adelaide Oval, January 26. Tickets

Fifth ODI Perth Stadium, January 28. Tickets

Prime Minister's XI

PM's XI v England Manuka Oval, February 2. Tickets

Gillette T20 trans-Tasman Tri-Series

First T20I Australia v NZ, SCG, February 3. Tickets

Second T20I – Australia v England, Blundstone Arena, February 7. Tickets

Third T20I – Australia v England, MCG, February 10. Tickets

Fourth T20I – NZ v England, Wellington, February 14

Fifth T20I – NZ v Australia, Eden Park, February 16

Sixth T20I – NZ v England, Seddon Park, February 18

Final – TBC, Eden Park, February 21