Legendary former captain Greg Chappell has called on Australia to pick a specialist opener for the Ashes instead of installing Marnus Labuschagne at the top.
Jake Weatherald is pressing for a Test debut in Perth after a hot 18 months in the Sheffield Shield as a dashing opener for Tasmania.
Australia are weighing up whether to keep allrounder Cameron Green at No.3, and have Labuschagne partner veteran Usman Khawaja as he did in the World Test Championship (WTC) final in June.
Dropped for the West Indies tour after the WTC defeat to South Africa, Labuschagne is a certainty to return after an outstanding start to the summer for Queensland.
It is just a matter of where he bats and how much Australia decide to tinker with their XI.
"I hope the powers that be know (what the team will be)," Chappell said on Tuesday.
"Opening's an important role and specialists generally have done better than people that have been press-ganged into the role.
"Opening is a role that you need to want to do.
"Most openers are pretty passionate about getting in there and batting first."
Chappell doesn't buy the argument that No.3 batters can be batting early, anyway, so the role isn't dramatically different from opening.
The 87-Test star believes star first drop such as his older brother Ian and Ricky Ponting wouldn't have been as successful had they opened.
Chappell has also voiced his concerns about Australia's ageing team, with Green the only member of the Ashes squad aged under 30.
Even potential debutant Weatherald just turned 31.
Chappell pointed to Travis Head as one player who got given a start early, now flourishing to be a three-format star.
"If you've got guys knocking the door down, then it's not so hard," Chappell said of Australia's transition to the next generation.
"But when you look around domestic cricket over the last few years, it has been populated by a lot of older, experienced players.
"But we're seeing a bit of change on that front, and I think it's quite exciting with some of the young talent that's playing Sheffield Shield at the moment.
"We might be looking forward to another really good era coming up.
"There is nobody that's ever been a Test-ready player straight out of domestic cricket.
"Domestic cricket is where you identify yourself, and then if you're selected, you get to find out whether you're good enough."
Chappell was in Melbourne on Tuesday with England great Ian Botham to speak about the 150th anniversary Test that will be held at the MCG in March 2027.
The match will be a day-night spectacle, with a ticket ballot to be launched for the first time in Australian cricket.
