Australia’s awesome foursome of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, and Nathan Lyon is set to retire in the next 12 to 18 months. Together, they do make up one of the greatest bowling attacks in the history of the game. However, especially given their extensive injury records, and also the monumental schedule Australia are facing over the next year, inevitably, they will need to replace them. So who is there?
Australia’s fab four have got 12 Ashes series wins between them.
Replacing the Master Spinner: Who Succeeds Nathan Lyon?
Australia’s fab four have got 12 Ashes series wins between them. Settling the issue of the replacement spinner for Nathan Lyon is probably the easiest task.
Victoria’s Todd Murphy already has a very tidy 28 average in Test cricket and picked up seven wickets on debut against India. His ability to turn the ball both ways also makes him a threat to left- and right-handed batters alike. An economy rate of 2.98 across 49 First-Class matches shows that Murphy seldom loses control of his line and length and can be used as a controller for long periods of time. At just 25, Murphy has plenty of time to grow and seems like a solid replacement already for Lyon.
Another spinner who has already picked up a few Test caps and has impressed is Matt Kuhnemann. The left-armer was primarily viewed and used as a subcontinent specialist, with three of his five Test caps coming in India and two in Sri Lanka. His 25 wickets across both tours were an excellent start, but questions over Kuhnemann’s bowling action forestalled his career. Now cleared by the International Cricket Council (ICC), he too is the main reserve spinner alongside Murphy to eventually replace the great Nathan Lyon.
However, there is a third option.
Corey Rocchiccioli impressed for CA XI recently, picking up eight wickets against Bangladesh.
Corey Rocchiccioli: The Wildcard Candidate
Perhaps more of a wildcard option, Rocchiccioli was superb in the 2025/26 Sheffield Shield. His 38 poles, coming at 28 apiece, placed him as the fourth-highest wicket-taker that season. Another arrow in Rocchiccioli’s quiver is that he has experience playing in England on English pitches. His four-match stint with Warwickshire in last year’s edition of the County Championship saw him take 16 wickets for the Bears—a modest, but not insignificant, return. With an away Ashes series on the horizon, Rocchiccioli’s experience of playing in England might count in his favour. However, Murphy and Kuhnemann both already have Test experience, probably making them the immediate successors to Lyon.
The Pace Dilemma: Replacing Cummins, Starc, and Hazlewood
The question of who can replace the three pace bowlers is a more difficult proposition. In recent years, raw speed has become a real rarity in Australia, as exemplified by the drop-off in average pace across domestic cricket.
As the graph relates, speeds in the Shield have fallen, and just two bowlers average above 140 kph.
Even Australian legend Glenn McGrath has commented on the decline in fast bowling this generation, saying:
“To replace Cummins, Starc, who carried the Australian attack against England, and Hazlewood… those three have been around for a while. Scotty Boland has done a great job, but I think Australia’s biggest challenge moving forward is how the next generation are going to take over from this one.”
As to why this is happening, my guess would be the marked increase in franchise commitments, which has resulted in higher workloads and more injuries, limiting the levels of pace that bowlers can consistently hit.
Of the available options, Riley Meredith falls into the same category as Nathan Ellis or Adam Zampa—a high-quality bowler that should be saved and used as a white-ball specialist only. Especially given the dire straits Australia’s T20I side find themselves in at the moment, a little more focus and priority on the shortest format wouldn’t hurt.
Of the remaining quicks performing well on the Cricket Australia news hub, which are best primed to replace the trio of Cummins, Starc, and Hazlewood?
Australia have a tall order in replacing their incredible pace trio, no matter how good their domestic talent pool is.
Top Domestic Pace Contenders
Liam Hatcher
The 29-year-old Liam Hatcher has more than 100 First-Class wickets and a promising strike rate of just 43. His recent successes saw him top the charts as the most prolific bowler in the Shield last year, taking 44 poles at an average below 20. He remains one of the younger seam bowling options ready for international consideration.
Nathan McAndrew
Something of a late bloomer in red-ball cricket, McAndrew actually debuted in the Plunkett Shield, playing in New Zealand. He only picked up a Shield contract in 2021 and hasn’t looked back. He performed excellently between 2024 and 2026, taking 88 wickets across two years while winning the competition with South Australia twice.
Jhye Richardson
Once considered to be Australia’s next great thing, Richardson’s career has sadly been torpedoed by injuries. Once able to hit comfortably above 140 kph, he is now restricted to the lower 130s. He does still, however, possess an excellent ability to swing the ball both ways and has proven his control over the effective wobble-seam delivery. Richardson has already shown glimpses of his talent for Australia, notably his five-for in the Ashes at the Adelaide Oval. Unfortunately, due to persistent shoulder trouble, Richardson has never been able to turn these moments into consistent performances. Perhaps now is his chance.
Fergus O’Neill
The best option on this list as a seamer, O’Neill has shown excellent mastery of the ball, and at six-foot-four, is able to generate bounce and movement too. Similar to Corey Rocchiccioli, his extensive stay at Nottinghamshire has turned O’Neill into a veteran of English conditions—something that will count in his favour with one eye fixed on next summer’s Ashes tour. At only 25 years old, O’Neill already has experience winning titles, playing a key role in Nottinghamshire’s 2025 County Championship win. Also no stranger to personal accolades, his 38 wickets at 21.07 apiece in the 2024/25 season earned him the player of the year award. Furthermore, O’Neill’s First-Class batting average sits north of 25, making him a solid tailender too.
Australia’s options are many, and their quality as First-Class bowlers is not in doubt. However, whether they can translate that success into Test performances is another matter. With a massive schedule looming and an Ashes series to prepare for, Australia need to start blooding in their young quicks to make them ready for the Test side—and soon.
You gotta love a great Aussie cricketing disaster
I’m just hoping that they don’t stay good till next Ashes and we can finally win one! :)
What’s the old saying? It’s harder to get out of the Australian 11 than it is to get in
Nice to read some cricket stuff here! How is it that in the past it seemed easy to bring in new talent?
We are very thankful for Thomas!
I appreciate it a lot :)
I’m glad you enjoyed :) It’s multiple different reasons of course, but I’d say that the marked increase in franchise commitments (expansion of the IPL etc.) results in more games, and more injuries. Also, most every fast bowler drops off in pace when they get injured a few times.
The problem is that many of the proposed replacements is that they have poor FC averages. The scheduling of Shield is poor. All prospective Test players must play. There should be 3 or 4 games played prior to the Tests. We would then get a good look at everyone and their form. If they were all (well most) playing for spots , as they were in the past , the Shield would be a great competition and form players would be playing Tests. Picking someone on a bit of one day form, or one of two games is just rubbish…one had to average well over 40 to even be considered as a bat..after outliers. I get it’s different and the short form is the only way for quite a few, but for Tests, you need to very good and step up from grade to state and state to Test are very big steps.
I agree, although maybe your a little harsh on the Shield. It’s obviously flawed, but it’s an excellent finishing school for red ball cricketers. For example, in my opinion it’s a smaller jump from the Shield to Test than the County Championship to Test. But you’re right, and the only solution really, is to blood in the young quicks. Maybe starting them in a home series against Bangladesh rather than eventually having to play them in India or South Africa due to injuries.
My point was that the Shield should almost be over by the time the test matches start…to expose form…or lack of it. It is all over the place nowadays.
The jump from shield to test compared to County to test may or may not be bigger, but my point is that that jump is huge and many if not most don’t make it….certainly at the first attempt. Think of all the players who have been dropped and came back better….it is a quality list. Green should have been dropped IMO awhile back. I see Renshaw now picked…the only one who averaged over 45 last year
Yeah that’s fair enough. Green should probably have been replaced already, though that ton in Darwin will keep him in the side I reckon. Renshaw is a decent option, should probably come in for Labuschagne.