Australia have an ‘A’ tour of England lined up, and Langer said performances on that tour would help players make a case for themselves, especially with no more Tests lined up between the ongoing Test series against Sri Lanka and the Ashes.

With Steve Smith and David Warner missing owing to bans, the red-ball squad has been in a state of flux. Senior players have been in poor form and the selectors have come in for criticism for their choices – but at the same time, there have been few players on the domestic circuit making the big hundreds that selectors have demanded of them.

Australia have found themselves another high class leg-spinner.

Lloyd Pope, who took 8-35 against England in the Under-19 World Cup, bagged a 7-fer in the Sheffield Shield overnight. He is just 18.

It could be Pope vs Pope in an Ashes series soon.pic.twitter.com/v0lW1l56Ir

— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) October 25, 2018

In an indication of the uncertainty, Langer said, “We probably won’t pick the final Ashes squad until quite late. I hope I’m not talking out of school with the other selectors, but I can’t see us picking the Ashes (squad) before the Australia A tour, for example.

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“Maybe halfway through, or three quarters of the way through (the tour). It would be really good opportunities for the guys who are picked for Australia A, while the World Cup is on, to put their hand up.”

No dates have been announced for the ‘A’ tour, but it is likely to take place from late June, even as the ODI squad will be playing the World Cup. With several players keen to link up with county sides as well, it means that Australia will have a fair assessment of conditions before the first Ashes Test at Lord’s starting on August 1.

[caption id=”attachment_96573″ align=”alignnone” width=”800″] England won the Ashes at home in 2015[/caption]

In a sign of just how seriously it is taking the series and desperate to prevent a repeat of their 2015 failings, Cricket Australia has also decided that they will play with Dukes balls in the last four rounds of the Sheffield Shield. The team last lifted the urn in England back in 2001.

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One of the big decisions they’ll have to make is about their pace attack. The Shield games and the the ‘A’ tour will give “a pretty good indication of who is up and running”, said Langer. “And then they’ve all got to stay fit and healthy as well.

“I tend to think that if we keep looking after these Test matches (against Sri Lanka) and we keep an eye on what we do in Shield cricket in Australia, the Ashes will look after itself.”