• The Australian
• September 15, 2015 12:00AM
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Tasmanian fast bowler Andrew Fekete after his shock call-up for the Australian Test tour of Bangladesh. Picture: Sam Rosewarne

Cameron Bancroft, above, Shaun Marsh, Usman Khawaja and Joe Burns are the contenders to face the new ball. Picture: Matthew Poon

Adam Voges is certain to retain his spot in the middle order because the 35-year-old has been made vice-captain.

How they shape up.

Australia’s selectors have turned to a new — but not necessarily young — guard for the upcoming tour of Bangladesh as they grapple with the biggest upheaval since the Packer revolution.

Seven of Steve Smith’s 15-man squad total 11 Tests between them as Australia starts down the long, hard road to the 2017-18 Ashes.

If the humbled 2015 Ashes party was derided as being a Dad’s Army then Smith’s tourists resemble a troop of Boy Scouts.

The retirements of a host of stars and the injury to Dave Warner has turned the page to a new chapter in Australian cricket.

Thirty-year-old Tasmanian quick Andrew Fekete and raw WA batsman Cameron Bancroft, 22, are the faces of the new order in the post Michael Clarke era.

Fekete is a bolter in the same league as Peter Taylor, picked in the late 1980s only to be greeted with accusations the selectors meant to choose his namesake Mark. The former Victorian has been chosen for his reverse-swing skills and an impressive recent tour of India with Australia A.

“He slipped under the guard of a lot of people but we’ve had our eye on him for a while,” chairman of selectors Rod Marsh said yesterday. “He bowled very well in India, he’s able to bowl with good pace — he’s around about 140 kilometres — he can generate reverse swing when needs be … and he’s a pretty good bloke.”

Fekete might be 30, but he is a young 30, Marsh says, so he and Bancroft have an opportunity to “establish themselves as the core of the side for years to come” in next month’s two-Test tour.

“He’s probably 25 body-wise because he hasn’t been through the rigours of year after year of non-stop cricket, so he’s fresh and ready to go,” Marsh said.

Fekete’s opportunity comes because Mitchell Johnson and Josh Hazlewood are being rested ahead of the home series against New Zealand and West Indies.

Marsh said James Pattinson was overlooked because he was down on confidence after returning to cricket with an action rebuilt to prevent the frequent injuries that have interrupted his career.

Mitchell Starc is in the party but Marsh said the quick’s ongoing problem with a bone spur in his foot meant he was on borrowed time. A sliver of floating bone will eventually need surgery but the selectors are keen for their short-form spearhead to hang on until the T20 World Cup in India in March.

The wave of recent retirements and injuries means Australia will trial a new top order in Bangladesh. During cricket’s 1979 reformation the C’mon Aussie C’mon jingle said “for openers we’re looking pretty good, with bats like Darling, Hilditch, Laird and Wood”. Everything old is new again as the selectors look to another quartet.

Bancroft, Shaun Marsh, Usman Khawaja and Joe Burns are the contenders to face the new ball and Rod Marsh says the selectors are open-minded on which of the two would get first run at the job. But one of the four would ­likely bat at No 3, as Marsh suggested Smith would drop down a notch in the order.

“Whether Smith will bat at three or four going forward, that’s his decision,” Marsh said. “But I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he doesn’t bat at number four, so there could be two spots we have to fill at the top of the order.”

Bancroft is the pin-up boy for the “generational change” narrative but other tourists have been recycled from past campaigns.

Glenn Maxwell has been given another chance, Khawaja is batting well after a major knee injury, and Steve O’Keefe last played in Australia’s Middle Eastern misadventure against Pakistan last year.

One place that has been filled is the retired Chris Rogers’ post at short leg, where Bancroft is a specialist. The patient opener — he will make a good foil for Dave Warner when the vice-captain has recovered from his broken thumb — impressed in making 150 against an India A attack that featured Test spinner Pragyan Ojha.

Australia’s spin attack could find no room for Victorian Fawad Ahmed — who was starved of oppor­tunities on the West Indies and Ashes tours — or West Australian Ashton Agar.

Adam Voges is certain to retain his spot in the middle order because the 35-year-old has been made vice-captain. The retirements of recent deputies Brad Haddin and Shane Watson meant Voges was the last man standing in the inexperienced squad.

Voges’s case was aided by the danger of Bangladesh belly as much as his leadership qualities.

“There are tummy wogs that go around there (so) if Steve Smith did get crook, it would’ve been very tough to have anyone else captain the side but Voges,” Marsh said. “Another chapter’s about to begin, really, because we’ve had so many retirements.

“We’ve got to prove we’re a good side — again. We were a good side. Are we a good side now?

“Well, we’ve got to prove that we are. And that means winning. Now it’s time these young blokes grab hold of their opportunity.”