© Getty Will Pucovski hits out during his Shield century against South Australia. This is not the summer for Australia to look back.

It is time to be brave and embrace Test cricket's next generation.

That means goodbye forever to Shaun Marsh, regardless of him just making a double century for Western Australia. The future was on the other team, also batting No.3.

Will Pucovski made 64 for Victoria, following his century against South Australia in the Sheffield Shield opener. He's a 21-year-old blonde breath of fresh air, 15 years the junior of Marsh.

And unless his form or mental health takes a dramatic turn for the worse, Pucovski should play for Australia in the first Test against Pakistan. "Hell yeah" was former Australian captain Ian Chappell's recent succinct endorsement – backed by this update from Pucovski himself.

"I'm going really well. Everything's moving in the right direction. I'm loving playing my cricket at the moment," Pucovski told SEN Radio.

"I've got a lot of things in place that are helping me deal with what I'm going through. Everything's really positive in that sense, so that's obviously a good place to be in."

Australia has two choices this summer, in which runs and wickets should be plentiful for the home side.

It can let the same old names face Pakistan and New Zealand, allowing them to cash-in and raise false hopes of a meaningful contribution going forward. To pad-out mediocre records when their best days are past.

Or it can take a punt on some fresh faces and launch bright new careers, in a relatively friendly environment before they face sterner challenges.

Option one would mean that Shaun Marsh isn't yet dead and buried. That Mitchell Marsh (though currently injured) is still our No.1 all-rounder. That Usman Khawaja should be forgiven for his Ashes failures, due to his usually sterling record in Australia.

It should not be forgotten that before being dropped in England, Khawaja averaged 28.28 in a four-Test home series against India, passing 50 just once. He was meant to be the senior batsman, with Steve Smith and David Warner banned, and he did not turn up. Chappell has already endorsed Khawaja's omission for this summer; he represents a step backwards.

© Getty Usman Khawaja was dropped for the fourth Ashes Test.

Option two means Pucovski, who has averaged 55.87 since the start of last Sheffield Shield season. Perhaps Kurtis Patterson, too. Remember him? The NSW lefty made 114 not out in his second and last Test, then couldn't even make the squad for the Ashes tour. He's still only 26, with a career first-class average of 40.97, though he is currently battling a quad injury.

Travis Head, 25, should still be in the mix if Cricket Australia genuinely believe that he can come good, and that he provides leadership qualities. He has a top score of 51 from three innings this Shield campaign, an output that must lift, and an unconvincing first-class average of 38.87. He's averaged only 34.13 in Shield cricket since the start of last season.

Marcus Harris, 27, shouldn't be written off but had an utterly dismal Ashes. He needs a repeat of last summer, in which he was Sheffield Shield's top batsman, and has begun this season nicely with a century and a half-ton for Victoria.

Despite averaging 24.06 through nine Tests, with a top score of 79, he may well play the series opener against Pakistan. Harris' Shield average from the beginning of last season is an exceptional 69.05, with a competition-leading 1,381 runs at 69.05.

© Getty Marcus Harris had a tough Ashes tour.

Joe Burns, 30, must have felt hard done by as he watched Harris and Cameron Bancroft struggle through the Ashes. The Queenslander made 180 opening the batting in his last Test, one of four Test centuries in a 16-match career that boasts a 40.10 average.

His Ashes omission for Cameron Bancroft was a harsh break, but that doesn't mean anything in terms of this summer. Burns has a top score of 52 from four innings in Shield cricket and must lift to reclaim a Test spot alongside David Warner.

There may yet be a surprise contender for that spot: Harris' opening partner for Victoria Nic Maddinson, who is still just 27. Harris and Maddinson each boast a Shield-best four centuries since the start of last season, with the latter averaging an extraordinary 86.10.

Maddinson belted 224 opening the batting in this season's first Shield match, albeit on a flat wicket. He is a class player who was injudiciously picked for his Test debut in 2016 when out of form, meaning he made a sorry 27 runs from three matches at 6.75.

The lefty is far better than that; as is Queensland's Matthew Renshaw, who is yet to launch a serious bid for a Test recall despite a best of 184 in the green helmet. That came, of course, against Pakistan; already way back, in the New Year's Test of 2017.

© Getty Nic Maddinson celebrates his century against South Australia.

Ultimately, there may be just two open places in the Australian batting order. Warner, Harris/Burns/Maddinson, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, then a fresh face, followed by Matthew Wade.

Wade was the only Australian apart from Steve Smith to post an Ashes century, justifying his Test recall by making two tons against England. He should fill the No.6 spot for the first Test this summer. Wade is the second-highest Shield run-scorer since the start of last season, making 1,121 runs at 56.05.

Yet fast approaching 32 and in the second phase of his Test career, Wade is in that weird twilight zone formerly occupied by the likes of Adam Voges, where brownie points barely accrue and the end can arrive at any moment. The man who occupied the No.6 spot before him was Patterson, who did so with distinction and is five years younger.

© Getty Matthew Wade celebrates his Ashes Test century at The Oval.

Labuschagne is interesting, despite being locked into Khawaja's old No.3 spot for the first Test. He performed superbly after entering the Ashes as Smith's concussion replacement at Lord's, making four half-centuries and averaging 50.42; trailing only Smith and Ben Stokes.

Yet that's the thing: in long-form cricket, he is a regular half-century maker who doesn't often convert his starts into tons.

In first-class cricket, he has nine centuries against 29 fifties. He has not passed 80 in Shield cricket since the start of last season and is 37th on the averages list (32.05) in that time, making six half-centuries.

With a career first-class average of 39.37, he's thereabouts as a long-term Test prospect and has impressed greatly with his attitude and application. Still just 25 and with handy leg-spinners in his arsenal, perhaps he will end up as an all-rounder batting lower in the order.

© Getty Marnus Labuschagne celebrates an Ashes 50 at Old Trafford.

No.7 batsman and captain Tim Paine will be there for the first Test. Australian cricket owes the wicketkeeper an enormous debt for the way he led the side out of the 'Sandpapergate' scandal and he did not have a terrible Ashes series, despite persistent criticism.

But Alex Carey's time must arrive soon. The South Australian is 28 and a superior batsman to Paine, averaging 60.20 since the start of last Shield season and matching Paine's career haul of two first-class centuries within that time alone; yet the Test captain may still be Australia's best gloveman.

Gratefulness for services rendered doesn't last long in professional sport. Murmurs for change will rise to screams if Paine struggles in the Pakistan series.

© AP Matthew Wade celebrates his Ashes century as fellow Tasmanian Tim Paine applauds.

Generational change means tough calls. Sometimes it means drawing a line through names, regardless of latest output.

The batsman with the greatest average since the start of last Shield season? Shaun Marsh, with a stunning 93.88 that was boosted by his recent 214.

Yet the bottom line is, Marsh has averaged an underwhelming 34.31 across 38 Tests; far more chances than his critics believe he has deserved. Like Khawaja, he went missing last summer against India when he was meant to stand up as a senior batsman. Rather than anchor a rattled side, Marsh averaged 26.14 and was dropped; surely for the last time.

His days in the baggy green are past and it's time to start anew.