The Ashes 2006-07 is over. With one and a bit games to play, the urn is safely home where it belongs. The only interest for the remainder of the series will be whether Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath will get the send-off that they deserve as they rule a line under their Test careers. Early indications are that they will.

The Ashes 2009 will see a radically different Australian side visit England, with more than half the current side having called it quits. In terms of straight numbers, the difference to the team will be remarkable. The departure of  Warne and McGrath alone will mean the loss of the experience gained from taking over 1,250 wickets - nearly twice the total of the entire England bowling line-up from the last Test.

From the batting, we can expect to lose Justin Langer, Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist, which, along with the already-departed Damien Martyn, will make a 25,000-run hole in the Aussie batting. There is some promising talent coming through, but it is experience that counts at Test level. Martyn’s form has been sporadic over the last few years and Gilchrist is a shadow of his former batting self (his ton in Perth showing he still has it, but that form has been missing for a while). Losing the Hayden-Langer opening combination will probably have the greatest impact. Replacing the best openers in Test history is no small task.

The impact of losing these six players is obvious, but there is another, more subtle, consequence of losing this chunk of talent. Since 1990, Australia have had the most stable Test line-up in world cricket. They have introduced only 48 new players in this period; no other Test nation has brought in less than 60 during this time. England, by way of contrast, introduced 87.

A more cynical writer might say that the ratio of nearly two new English players for every new Aussie is about right, as any Australian cricketer is worth two Englishmen. I don’t want to get involved in that sort of stuff, except to perhaps mention that a two-to-one ratio is probably quite flattering for the English!

This stability has been a product of the broad spread of talent across the Aussie side. When one or two players have failed, there have been others to pick up the slack, allowing the selectors the luxury of persisting with out-of-form players and giving them the opportunity to regain some touch. Other sides have not had that luxury and have been forced to drop players, further trampling already damaged confidence.

Great results have flowed from this stability. In 191 Tests, there have been 116 wins, 40 draws and 35 losses. When new players have been introduced, it was often to fill in for one or two Tests to cover for injured stars. At times, it seems that the selectors are too supportive of players, keeping them when times required change.

The Ashes 2005 were the classic example of where the tolerance of the selectors was misplaced. It was perhaps the one series where no-one, with the exception of Shane Warne, was performing anywhere near his best. The usual covering of poor performance by other players was conspicuously absent, yet the selectors did nothing. With Brad Hodge, Shaun Tait and Stuart Clark waiting in the wings, they persisted with an under-performing Martyn, Simon Katich, Jason Gillespie and Michael Kasprowicz.

The expected exodus of senior players will force the hand of the selectors and it will take time to strike the right balance with the replacements. The talent is there, but moulding it into a successful team will mean a bit of unfamiliar instability in the side. Whether it can be completed by the time 2009 comes around is the big question.

What is the future for Australian cricket now that so many big names look set to depart the Test arena? Will they continue to be the best in the world - and if not, who will take over their mantle? Sportingo would welcome your comments.