'Next gen is there': McDonald assured on life after the big three

The longevity of Australia's pace attack will be on full display in Jamaica when Mitchell Starc notches 100 Tests

While Australia don't envisage a changing of the guard for a few years yet, coach Andrew McDonald believes the next generation of fast bowlers are ready and waiting in domestic cricket.

The longevity of Australia's current pace attack will be laid bare in the third Test in Jamaica this Saturday (4.30am Sunday AEST) when Mitchell Starc becomes just the second Aussie quick after Glenn McGrath to play 100 Test matches.

Next on the list among Australian fast bowlers is Brett Lee with 76 Test appearances, who Josh Hazlewood (currently 75) is set to draw level with at Sabina Park, while Cummins is not far behind on 70 Test caps.

Starc (395) is also on the verge of becoming the second Aussie paceman to take 400 Test wickets, while Hazlewood (292) is eight away from 300, the same milestone Cummins passed during last month's World Test Championship final.

Cummins is the youngest of the 'big three' at 32 years of age, with Hazlewood 34 and Starc 35, while reserve paceman Scott Boland is 36.

A combination of those four have made up Australia's pace bowling attack for their past 28 Tests, with Queenslander Michael Neser the last seamer from outside that group to play in December 2022 when Cummins and Hazlewood missed the second Test against West Indies in Adelaide due to respective quad and side strains.

Australia's hierarchy trust that the level below can equip the next generation for when the transition eventually does come, with Beau Webster and Scott Boland recent examples that Sheffield Shield and Australia A success can prepare players to have an immediate impact at Test level.

"We're very trusting of the level below and I think Beau Webster has been an example of that," McDonald said after Australia secured the Frank Worrell Trophy with a 133-run victory in the second Test.

"There's no doubt that you can come straight out of domestic cricket and perform at Test level.

"We're closely managing the quicks and the games they play and hopefully that creates longevity, (as well as) more longevity in those three (Starc, Cummins, Hazlewood) and also Scotty Boland.

"But the next generation is there.

"Adam Griffith (national pace bowling coach) has come in. He's got a role that's clearly defined – it's getting those guys ready, which has been nice for me to have.

"His role will be important as we transition. We don't see that transition happening immediately, but it will happen over the next few years."

Griffith, who joined Australia's tour of the Caribbean with assistant coach Daniel Vettori returning home for family reasons, has been tasked with leading a national strategy to develop and prepare pace bowlers for Australia's men's teams.

Among those around the fringes are Test-capped duo Michael Neser, 35, and injury-plagued speedster Jhye Richardson, 28, as well as 31-year-old Brendan Doggett, who was part of the WTC final squad, while Sean Abbott, 33, is with the group in the Caribbean after the South Australian returned home with hip complaint.

West Australian tearaway Lance Morris and Queensland's Mark Steketee have both been in Test squads in recent years, while Morris, Ben Dwarshuis, Will Sutherland, Xavier Bartlett and Spencer Johnson have all debuted in the ODI format in the past two years.

Griffith and Australia's coaching set-up will also no doubt be keeping an eye on generational teenage talents Callum Vidler and Mahli Beardman, who both impressed for their states last summer and were part of four-pronged pace attack alongside Tom Straker and Charlie Anderson that secured the nation's first men's Under-19 World Cup triumph in 14 years when they beat India in February 2024.

01:17 Play video Raw pace! Vidler's most vicious deliveries in Shield final

However, none of that group will feature in two first-class matches against Sri Lanka later this month due to either tailored off-season programs or various playing opportunities overseas, including Australia's five-match T20 series against West Indies, which follows the third Test in Jamaica.

Meanwhile, should Boland not be required in the series finale against the Windies, McDonald said he would also go into a "shutdown" in preparation for the home Ashes summer.

"If he doesn't play in that last Test match (in Jamaica), we'll go into a bit of a shutdown for him to get him right for the summer," McDonald said.

"He's been up and going for a while now, and the ability to back off now and then get him right from Australian domestic summer and Test summer would be the aim.

"Guys will go away from here with clear plans to get them ready and there will be some players that play the Top End (in three T20s and three ODIs against South Africa in August), there will be some that won't."

03:37 Play video Hazlewood, Starc on unusual fielding, getting old and winning

Australia A will also play two four-day matches against India A in Lucknow in September, which McDonald said would allow those in contention for the Ashes squad to return for the start of the Shield season to push their case.

"The first four rounds of Shield cricket will draw a better connection to the Ashes than what we're seeing here (in the Caribbean)," he said.

"There's great opportunity in domestic cricket at the start the season, and there always is leading into any Test series.

"There's two four-day games against India A and then there's three one-day games at the back end of that where there is a potential clash (with the Shield season.

"We'll strike the balance of prioritising Test cricket, and with that in mind, Shield round one, versus the other guys that potentially aren't in frame for that.

"So there will be a prioritisation around the Test series, then by extension, domestic cricket."

Qantas Tour of the West Indies

First Test: Australia won by 159 runs

Second Test: Australia won by 133 runs

Third Test: July 12-16, Kingston, Jamaica (4.30am AEST)

Australia Test squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Matt Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster

West Indies Test squad: Roston Chase (c), Jomel Warrican (vc), Kevlon Anderson, Kraigg Brathwaite, John Campbell, Keacy Carty, Justin Greaves, Shai Hope, Tevin Imlach, Alzarri Joseph, Shamar Joseph, Brandon King, Johann Layne, Mikyle Louis, Anderson Phillip, Jayden Seales

First T20I: July 20, Kingston, Jamaica (July 21, 11am AEST)

Second T20I: July 22, Kingston, Jamaica (July 23, 11am AEST)

Third T20I: July 25, Basseterre, St Kitts (July 26, 9am AEST)

Fourth T20I: July 26, Basseterre, St Kitts (July 27, 9am AEST)

Fifth T20I: July 28, Basseterre, St Kitts (July 29, 9am AEST)

West Indies T20 squad: TBC

Australia's T20 squad: Mitchell Marsh (c), Sean Abbott, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Ben Dwarshius, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Matt Kuhnemann, Glenn Maxwell, Mitch Owen, Matthew Short, Adam Zampa

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