England commentator thinks Australia will be 'weak' for 2027 Ashes. Here's what the XI might look like

Cricket Australia might just finish this Ashes summer with more questions than it bargained for when it comes to the batting line-up, despite securing the urn.

One stop remains on the Test tour, with Sydney feeling far more important than just a dead rubber for both sides.

England need the win to continue growing confidence after their success in Melbourne and potentially save the job of coach Brendon McCullum.

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World Test Championship points are on the line, too.

Australia, meanwhile, will hope the likes of Marnus Labuschagne, Usman Khawaja, Cameron Green and Jake Weatherald find some much-needed form with the bat.

They made do with the squad that has carried them across much of the 2020s this summer, but a wall of Test cricket looms for the Aussies in 2026 and 2027 and right now they wouldn't have much confidence in taking this XI into that gauntlet.

Due to the T20 World Cup there isn't actually any Test cricket for Australia in the first half of 2026, with the next appearance after Sydney likely being two Tests back on home soil in August against Bangladesh.

Those matches are likely to be in Mackay and Cairns, adding another intriguing wrinkle.

They will then quickly turn around and head to South Africa for three Tests across September and October before a four-Test summer hosting New Zealand.

South Africa has had an outstanding run in the red ball format of late, even beating the Aussies in the World Test Championship final, while the Kiwis are never easy-beats.

The 2027 run might just be Australia's biggest ever year of Test cricket.

Coming off New Zealand they will play a full length Border-Gavaskar series in India across January and February, before the 150-year anniversary of Test cricket match against England at the MCG in March. Then the Ashes snaps back around in June-July in enemy territory.

Australia will have had possession of the urn for a decade at that point, adding further fuel to England's fire.

The English press has certainly got their tail up after one win. Deputy cricket correspondent Will Macpherson in The Telegraph labelled the future of the Aussie XI "weak", saying the Poms will certainly be favourites come 2027.

"Predicting Australia's team for (the 2027 Ashes) is mightily difficult, for two reasons. First is the age profile of the current team. Of the 15 players Australia have selected in this series, just two ... are under 30," he wrote following the two-day MCG debacle.

"Second is Australia's unusually jammed schedule leading into 2027. They have a brutal run.

"The other issue for Australia is their dysfunctional batting ... This summer they have been deeply grateful for the superb South Australians, Travis Head and Alex Carey. It is not unreasonable to say four members of the top seven will be playing for their place in Sydney.

"As gloomy as many aspects of this Ashes tour have seemed, there is cause for optimism as England look ahead to 2027."

Things will go from zero to 100 very quickly across 2026 and 2027 and it's hard to put together what the batting order will even look like when the Aussies get there.

Labuschagne's comeback summer has not gone to plan whatsoever; Khawaja will be in his 40s by the next Ashes and isn't currently setting the world on fire; Weatherald has been sometimes steady, far from spectacular; and Green has not delivered with the bat either.

Steve Smith is 36 and will be 38 by the next Ashes series. You'd imagine he will bat until he physically cannot do so anymore, but age catches up to even the greats at some point. It is not unreasonable to think he might hang up his baggy green before the next trip to England.

Head and Carey feel like the only two guarantees come the 2027 Ashes, but you couldn't say with any certainty where in the order they'll be needed to bat. Carey will also be 36 by then and has Josh Inglis waiting in the wings to take the gloves.

Will Head now open long-term, or does he revert back to five? And will Carey now hold onto his spot batting at six or drop back to seven? These are the good headaches, at least.

Chief selector George Bailey has been hesitant to make mass changes, but it's also true that there haven't been many batters banging the door down in the Sheffield Shield.

The likes of Sam Konstas and Campbell Kellaway are viewed as the future, but Konstas showed in 2025 that the road to Test batting consistency is a long one, and rarely comes in your early 20s.

Nathan McSweeney and Matt Renshaw have both performed well in the Sheffield Shield and potentially earned opportunities, but have both been found wanting at Test level previously.

They will hope an Oliver Peake or a Harry Dixon suddenly emerges as a world class top order batter, though that's asking a lot on this timeline as they will be in their early 20s when the next Ashes rolls around.

Gone are the days of a Michael Hussey level player plugging away in the Shield until his 30s given the sheer weight of talent in the Aussie XI.

But even with the break from January to August, it's hard to imagine the Aussie selectors getting much sleep as they attempt to craft a batting order to survive the looming buzzsaw.

As for the bowlers, Australia's entire first-choice bowling attack are all on the wrong side of 30 and captain Pat Cummins is the youngest at 32.

It's safe to assume Nathan Lyon won't be bowling come mid-2027, and the fitness of Josh Hazlewood continues to be of concern. Mitchell Starc is bowling as well as ever but he is already 35 and potentially only one injury away from being forced into retirement.

Even Australia's best reserve fast bowlers, Scott Boland and Michael Neser, are 36 and 35 years old respectively.

There are some emerging quicks outside the main attack but none of them are exactly bashing the door down at Test level yet.

Of course, despite all of these headaches, and the injuries that have unfolded, they still retained the Ashes before Christmas in a record 11 days of cricket.

We've had a crack at predicting a possible Aussie XI for the 2027 Ashes. None of the players selected are over 35 years old.

CURRENT STRONGEST AUSTRALIAN TEST TEAM

Travis Head (32), Jake Weatherald (31), Marnus Labuschagne (31), Steve Smith (36), Usman Khawaja (39), Cameron Green (26), Alex Carey (34), Mitchell Starc (35), Pat Cummins (32 - injured), Josh Hazlewood (34 - injured), Nathan Lyon (38 - injured)

Reserves: Scott Boland (36), Beau Webster (32), Todd Murphy (25), Michael Neser (35), Jhye Richardson (29), Josh Inglis (30)

POSSIBLE 2027 ASHES TEAM

Sam Konstas, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Campbell Kellaway, Nathan McSweeney, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis (wk), Pat Cummins, Jhye Richardson, Fergus O'Neil, Todd Murphy