Future-proofing ageing Test side 'incredibly important': McDonald

Andrew McDonald is determined to stop history from repeating itself, vowing to avoid sending the Test team off a cliff amid a host of simultaneous retirements.

But the Australian men’s team coach, with the ink still drying on the addition of an extra year to his contract, acknowledges he faces a considerable transition period during his extended tenure.

Initially hired to lead the side until mid-2026, McDonald has had his contract stretched out until the end of a gruelling 2027 calendar year.

The 43-year-old did not rule out going on beyond that as he conceded one of his main tasks over the coming years will be to "future proof" a Test team that remains the overarching priority for cricket administrators.

Australia fielded their oldest men’s Test XI in a century at the beginning of last summer, with the average age hovering around the 33-year-old mark for all five home Tests and the ensuing two in New Zealand.

With Travis Head (in December last year) and Marnus Labuschagne (June) both recently celebrating their 30th birthdays and, with incumbent Cameron Green unavailable for the coming home season after back surgery, Pat Cummins could lead a team that features all 11 players older than 30 if Marcus Harris or Cameron Bancroft gets the nod to open the batting.

There are parallels with the late 2000s when Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Adam Gilchrist, Justin Langer, Matthew Hayden, Brett Lee, Stuart MacGill, Andrew Symonds and Damien Martyn all played their final Tests within two years of each other.

The current Test side has seven players aged between 33 and 37 – Josh Hazlewood, Mitch Marsh and Alex Carey (all 33), Mitchell Starc (34), Steve Smith (35), Nathan Lyon (36) and Usman Khawaja (37) – who are all enjoying the final few years of their Test careers.

David Warner, who retired at 37 last summer, was the first of that generation to call time.

But McDonald says their transition plan involves holding on to older players for as long as possible while they are still performing.

"People take it back to 2007 when mass players have exited and they've struggled to obviously perform at the same level – we're not beholden to the past," McDonald told reporters on Thursday.

"I think if you get the selections right on the back of players exiting, then the transition is lot smoother."

In suggesting "one-day cricket can be the bridge to Test cricket", McDonald forecasted the likelihood of leading Test players continuing to sit out bilateral limited-overs series on occasion.

Cummins recently missed the white-ball tour of the UK, with the Test captain's preparation for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy prioritised. McDonald tipped others could do similar to instead undergo "mini pre-seasons" as Cummins has.

"We're big believers that within that – if you want to call it transition – that the older, more experienced players assist those younger players when they come through the changeroom," said McDonald.

"So it's about making sure that we don't exit senior players too soon and lose that knowledge within that playing group. That's incredibly important for us to get that balance right.

"Our mindset is always about … future proofing in the team. We've had opportunities in bilateral (white-ball) series to expose that next generation.

"Test cricket has been slightly different, we have been really settled and almost predictable in the way that we have gone about it. That's not a bad thing … we're number one in the Test rankings.

"It's very hard to change a settled team that's performing really well."

Senior players have been strong advocates of McDonald's leadership style since taking over the job from Justin Langer in 2022.

The Victorian expressed his hope his main assistants Dan Vettori, Michael di Venuto and Andre Borovec will remain in their roles over the coming years.

He suggested the coaching staff's ability to share the load had been a major factor in navigating a hectic 2023 calendar year that ultimately proved mostly successful.

Coming back from an honourable 1-2 series defeat in India, Australia beat the same side in the World Test Championship final, drew the Ashes 2-2 and then finished on a high by pulling off one of the most unlikely World Cup triumphs in history. Multiple bilateral series were played between those main engagements.

An equally taxing year in 2027 looms with Test tours of India and England, the possibility of another WTC final engagement, as well their ODI World Cup title defence.

"It probably wasn't as heavy as what it looked like moving into it," McDonald said of 2023.

"I think the ability with the staff that we have got to share that load has been incredibly successful.

"I'm not sure other nations do it similar to us … but to share that workload has probably given us the (ability) to push on beyond (his) initial (coaching) term.

"Those (assistant coaches) are incredibly important to the team and myself. The idea would be to continue to surround myself with those people, and I think they've got an appetite to continue on.

"I'm hoping they'll be on the journey long term."

NRMA Insurance Men's Test Series v India

Australia squad: TBC

India squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Jasprit Bumrah (vice-captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar. Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed

First Test: November 22-26: Perth Stadium, 1.20pm AEDT

Second Test: December 6-10: Adelaide Oval, 3pm AEDT (D/N)

Third Test: December 14-18: The Gabba, Brisbane, 11.20am AEDT

Fourth Test: December 26-30: MCG, Melbourne, 10.30am AEDT

Fifth Test: January 3-7: SCG, Sydney, 10.30am AEDT