Australia have made a confident start to their effort to regain the No.1 Test ranking from South Africa by first posting an above-average Wanderers score of 466 and then reducing the South Africans to 85 for 3. The Test could still go the other way, but there is no disputing Australia’s dominance at this moment. But what may not be so evident from the scorecard is that the Australians are a new-look team with 3 players making their debut and two others with experience of 5 Tests or less.

Take a look at the following chart of the last 3 Tests (including the current one) played by Australia. I have ignored the first Test of the previous series against South Africa as the team was essentially unchanged.

                                  Total Tests   Avg. Tests/Player
2nd Test vs. SA (in Australia)           464               42.18
3rd Test vs. SA (in Australia)           373               33.91 (2 debutants)
1st Test vs. SA (in SA)                  276               25.09 (3 debutants)

In comparison, the South African team has a total experience of 630 Tests in the current Test, almost twice the experience, and only Duminy has played less than 15 Tests. Of course, that would not count for much, if the new Australian players are very talented. Let us take a look at the five players who may either be the future of Australian cricket or just be having their 15 minutes of fame.

Marcus North: With a century on debut, the 18th Australian to do so, North’s stock is pretty high. He has played for various teams, including Australia A. North has a good record in first-class matches with almost 9000 runs and 22 centuries.

Philip Hughes: Heaven for some, hell for others. Hughes made a golden duck in his first Test innings, but this 20-year old is extremely talented, being the youngest man to score a Pura Cup final century.

Benjamin Hilfenhaus: Another golden duck on debut, he denied Johnson his maiden century. He must have been relieved when he scalped Amla off his 2nd ball in Test cricket. He has been around in international ODIs and T20′s since 2007.

Andrew McDonald: An all-rounder who made his debut in Australia’s previous Test, he has to improve upon his duck and so-far wicketless performance in this Test. His first Test was not great either. Most likely to dropped at this moment in time.

Peter Siddle: Compared to the rest, he is a veteran. Took 13 wickets in the previous series against SA and helped win the Sydney Test. Young, hasn’t played much in first-class cricket, but has shown enough to be playing Tests.