Steve Smith’s stated ambition to keep his team atop the world Test rankings is but a couple of weeks old but it is a sentiment that’s already being underpinned by some important shifts within Australia’s domestic Sheffield Shield competition.

As the two-year trial of a new points system designed to more closely replicate match conditions found in the Test arena draws to a close, data shows a significant increase in the number of outright results now that first innings leads earn teams little more than bragging rights.

And even more noteworthy for national selectors who have publicly lamented Australia’s first-class batting depth in seasons past, there has been an unprecedented number of young batters making their mark and a substantial spike in players who – upon scoring 50 – have pushed on to triple figures.

Quick Single: Young bats stepping up in Sheffield Shield

Never before in its 123-year history has a Shield season witnessed as many players under the age of 23 scoring their maiden first-class centuries for their State.

So far this summer there has been 16 hundreds posted by 10 players aged 23 and under, with eight of those – Ashton Agar, Will Bosisto (WA), Sam Heazlett, Marnus Labuschagne, Matthew Renshaw, Jack Wildermuth (Qld), Travis Head (SA) and Beau Webster (Tas) – reaching the milestone for the first time.

WATCH: Head'ss ton proves the match-winner

The previous most productive Shield summer for the batsmen of generation next was 1993-94 when six under-23s notched their maiden tons, all of them en route to international caps – Matthew Elliott, Brad Hodge (Vic), Michael DiVenuto (Tas), Martin Love, Jimmy Maher (Qld) and Shane Lee (NSW).

That was at a time in the early ‘90s when the recently formed Cricket Academy was disgorging a fleet of ready-made players into domestic ranks, a glut that also saw talents the likes of Justin Langer, Damien Martyn, Ricky Ponting, Michael Slater and Greg Blewett also join the under-23 honour roll.

But as more money flowed into the increasingly professional game, players who had previously been compelled to leave cricket in order to earn a living were able to pursue longer playing careers, which in turn made it tougher for emerging youngsters to secure a place in Shield ranks.

Between the start of the 1998-99 season and the end of the 2007-08 summer a decade later – at which time Adam Gilchrist had joined fellow Test regulars Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Langer and Martyn in recent retirement - there were 39 Shield centuries scored by batters aged under 23.

Of those players, only Michael Clarke (seven centuries) and Shane Watson (five) went on to become Test regulars and between 2008 and 2013 – as Australia rebuilt their Test line-up – they won less than half of the matches they played (34 wins from 73 Tests).

While it would be bending credibility further than Mitchell Starc can swing a new pink ball to suggest the changes made to the Shield points structure at the start of the 2014-15 season are behind Australia’s ascension to number one, they have helped create a more ‘Test-like’ breeding ground for first-class players.

Which can only hold Australia in good stead as Smith looks to not only maintain but build on his team’s number one ranking despite the recent exit of Test veterans Clarke, Watson, Brad Haddin, Ryan Harris, Mitchell Johnson and Chris Rogers.

“It is a good start for us," Smith said in Christchurch last month after securing his first away-series win as captain and the ICC’s number one Test ranking in the process.

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“But we want to win every series that we play.”

Which will require a pool of Test-ready players in the tiers below the national team to cover for injuries, retirements and fluctuations in form.

That push has been recently spearheaded by former Test captain Greg Chappell, now Cricket Australia’s National Talent Manager, in concert with the State Talent Management System who have helped implement a change of philosophy relating to selection and talent identification.

Which, in turn, has seen the fast-tracking of younger players who exhibit the skills and character identified in proven elite-level performers.

While that push has been balanced against the recent removal (at the request of State Associations) of age restrictions in the Toyota Futures League competition, the underlying theme of “best outcome for Australian cricket” has largely driven the opportunities afforded talented young players.

That philosophy has also led to a number of exciting youngsters switch States in search of more opportunities, such as Victoria’s Agar to WA, Ben McDermott from Queensland to Tasmania and NSW batsman Jake Doran also to Tasmania.

WATCH: Agar tons up century in Shield opener

And the inclusion of a CA XI in this summer’s Matador BBQs One-Day Cup as well as an extensive series of CA XI matches against touring international teams and rival national ‘second XI’ outfits overseas has enabled younger players to ‘hit the ground running’ when they reach first-class company.

Of the CA XI teams that scored one win from six matches at this summer’s Matador Cup, Bosisto, Wildermuth and Hilton Cartwright (WA) crowned their subsequent progression to Sheffield Shield ranks with maiden centuries.

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The selection panel chaired by Rod Marsh has cited the ability for batters to regularly post big scores as a key criterion in earning national honours, and would therefore be heartened to note that so far this summer there have been 45 centuries scored from the 93 occasions a player has reached 50.

That conversion rate of almost 50 per cent (48.39) easily eclipses the previous best over the past decade of Shield competition (41.73 last summer) and is significantly higher than the average over the previous 10 years that showed 35.84 per cent of batters who scored 50 continued on to a century.

That conversion rate was at its lowest during the summers of 2012-13 (26.55 per cent) and 2013-14 (26.24) when seamer-friendly ‘result’ pitches were common in Shield matches.

During that time, Australia boasted just two batsmen (Clarke and Michael Hussey) among the top 20 averages for specialist batters in Test cricket worldwide.

Over the past two years, that number has grown to five in the 20 leading Test batsmen by average (Usman Khawaja, Adam Voges, Smith, David Warner and Joe Burns) with recently retired opener Rogers 21st on that list.

Under the new Shield points system, that will be reviewed at the conclusion of the current summer, the awarding of first innings points was ditched in favour of a bonus points structure that rewards teams for scoring runs (beyond 200) and taking wickets in the first 100 overs of each side’s first innings.

WATCH: Shield points changes explained

The idea being that Test matches offer no prizes for a first innings lead but that the outcome is often set up by teams that play aggressively in the first phase and thereby give themselves the best chance of forcing an outright result.

It’s become an Australia trademark since Smith took over the Test captaincy with six of his eight matches in charge (excluding the day-night Test in Adelaide and the rain-ruined New Year match in Sydney) yielding first innings totals of 500-plus at an average of more than four runs per over.

Under the previous Shield points structure, whereby teams pocketed two for a first innings lead and six if they scored an outright win, much match time was soaked up in the battle for the smaller prize which meant valuable game time was lost and draws more commonplace.

This summer, with the lure of available points ending after 100 overs of each first innings, there has been outright results achieved in 86.96 per cent of matches played to date compared to an average of 74.81 per cent over the past decade.

And in the 26 completed matches thus far (not including the NSW-Victoria match at the SCG that was abandoned due to ground conditions) there have been 13 teams declare their first innings closed rather than bat on.

The addition of a point awarded to both teams for a draw, to further replicate Test match conditions where batting out a final day can be as keenly fought as a pursuit of victory, has also helped to alter manner in which teams approach Shield matches.

Quick Single: Young bats stepping up in Sheffield Shield

However, the overall standings of the summer are not overtly influenced by the new points structure with minimal changes in the current ladder placings – that effectively sees five of the six teams with a chance to reach the final heading into next week’s last round – if the previous points system was applied.

Under the old system, Queensland would currently sit two points above current Shield leaders Victoria and Western Australia would hold the same advantage over South Australia in fourth place, with the other positions unchanged.

But the fact that no team can look to pocket first innings points to shore up their place, and subsequently opt not to pursue an outright result for fear of losing, means the ultimate round of the Shield season appears set to deliver relevance as well as revelations.