The practice of leaders being nominated by their peers is common in the football codes but foreign to the national team. Traditionally, players have not had an official say with national selectors making a recommendation to the board, which then ratifies the appointments. That part of the process still applies. An announcement on the Test vice-captaincy is expected to be made before the first Test against Pakistan starting October 7. It's believed players will be asked to address their vision for the team, the values and standards they can set and how the team might operate as part of their presentation. One of the aims of the exercise is for players to take more ownership in the management of the side. Marsh, whom coach Justin Langer endorsed as a future leader while he was at the helm in Western Australia, is the favourite to take over the Test vice-captaincy while Finch is the front-runner to be skipper in the limited-overs formats. Paine led Australia's 50-over team to a 5-0 defeat in England but is under pressure to keep his place in the side.

The move to introduce a formal process for leadership positions comes after Steve Smith and David Warner were stripped of their jobs after the events in South Africa. Loading The vice-captaincy has long caused concern for CA. The Argus review, tabled after Australia's Ashes defeat in 2010/11, called for the position to be more clearly defined. Former vice-captain Brad Haddin has said the role is best filled by a player with no leadership aspirations, though CA has traditionally appointed the heir apparent in the position. Michael Clarke, who officially held the top job from 2011-15, wrote in his 2013 autobiography he had not been a good vice-captain to Ricky Ponting but denied harbouring ambitions to be the skipper.

The dynamic between Smith and Warner was also a subject of much chatter around cricket circles after their appointments in 2015. The pair's suspensions has forced CA to fast-track the leadership development of several candidates who otherwise may not have been considered. Finch has captained Australia's ODI and T20 teams while Marsh and Head lead their states. Carey served as Head's lieutenant for the recent Australia A tour of India while the quietly spoken Hazlewood is well respected by his peers. Langer is confident there is strong depth in leaders in the country. "We’re going through a process at the moment which is a bit different to what we usually do in Australian cricket," Langer said this week. "But what I do know is there are five or six guys who are in the hunt for leadership positions in white ball and red ball cricket.

"Mitch [Marsh] will certainly be in the hunt. He's just coming back from his surgery, he's captain of WA so there's no doubt he'll be one of the frontrunners for vice-captaincy. Aaron Finch is also the captain of the T20 side, hasn’t played Test cricket yet. "Josh Halzewood not on this tour but that highly regarded within the group. Travis Head is another one. Guys like Shaun marsh and Usman Khawaja - a lot of good young leaders there. Whoever has got the title that'll be one thing as long as we've got lots of leaders that's what worries me."