Ahead of the second Test in the West Indies, Josh Inglis has become the latest player to lose their spot in the side in favour of an older teammate.
The batter has been dropped for the returning Steve Smith, hardly a surprise given the latter’s track record and Inglis’ efforts of five and 12 in the first Test victory in Barbados.
It is, however, emblematic of Australia’s over reliance on their tried and tested veterans.
MORE: Travis Head enters top 10 in new ICC Test rankings
The current three-match series in the Caribbean looked like a perfect opportunity to get some experience into an aging squad as the current core enters their mid, or even late, 30s.
Sam Konstas (19) and Cameron Green (26) are the only members of the XI picked for the second Test younger than 31.
And neither the enigmatic opener or the towering all-rounder are in particularly good form - Konstas made three and five in Bridgetown, while Green is averaging 5.5 across his past four knocks and not bowling as he returns from a back injury.
With several blockbuster series on the horizon over the next 18 or so months, have Australian selectors missed a trick by not trying out more new blood in an environment less pressurised than an Ashes or Border-Gavaskar series?
Nathan McSweeney (26) and Cooper Connolly (21) have had brief tastes of Test match action in recent times, while the likes of Campbell Kellaway (22), Harry Dixon (20) and Jason Sangha (25) represent perhaps the next most likely of the younger brigade of batting options on the domestic scene.
Similarly, the average age of Australia’s bowling quartet of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon is a tick under 35, while next man up, Scott Boland, is 36.
Bowling all-rounder Sean Abbott, 33, was also included in the touring party to the West Indies.
As far as the next generation of bowlers go, Matt Kuhnemann (28) is in the Caribbean, while Lance Morris (27) and Todd Murphy (24) have previously featured at Test level.
Untried options include Fergus O'Neill (24), Corey Rocchiccioli (27) and young tearaway Callum Vidler (19).
Long-time opener Usman Khawaja, who will be 39 by the end of the year, looks like the first one of the current regulars to need replacing.
The left-hander is averaging 34.2 since the start of 2024, a figure skewed somewhat by his 232 against Sri Lanka in Galle earlier this year.
As for major series on the horizon, Australia hosts England in the home summer, tours South Africa, faces New Zealand in Australia ahead of a tour of India in early 2027.
Khawaja will almost certainly need replacing after the Ashes, while Smith (36) and wicket-keeper Alex Carey (34 next month) could join several of the bowlers in calling time on their Test careers over the next couple of years.
Head selector George Bailey and coach Andrew McDonald have a tricky balancing act on their hands.
How do they give long-serving greats the opportunity to go out on their terms, while also planning for a future without them?