With Australia still struggling to cope with the retirements of their key players, spin legend Shane Warne has called on the selectors to pump in young blood into the team before it is too late.
The series losses against England, South Africa and India in the past 13 months has dropped Australia from the top of the stack to fourth place in the ICC Test rankings and Warne feels it is high time that the seniors in the side perform or make way for youngsters.
"You have to say that the Australian side has been in a transitional phase but when does that phase stop?" he was quoted by the Daily Telegraph as saying.
"I wouldn't say Australia is the fourth best side in the world but the way the side has played in recent times you are going to have to be patient.
"But there comes a time when you say okay, are these guys in the side going to see us through in the long term or is there an opportunity to get some new blood in the side?" he said.
Warne asked the selectors to learn from history, when he was one of the four players - including Glenn McGrath, Justin Langer and Damien Martyn - to have retired after the 2006-07 Ashes series.
Since then Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden have also quit the game, leaving Australia with transformation issues.
He further added that opener Phillip Hughes, leg-spinner Steven Smith and all-rounder Moises Henriques should be tried in the Test side.
"We need to say 'What is our future?' If we're going to stay in a transition side and stay patient with them, we need these guys to get the opportunity to play some Test cricket.
"Pick them at the right time. What we don't want is to lose four or five players at a time, like we lost us (after the 2006-07 Ashes), once again," the 40-year-old former spinner said.
"Yes, be patient and we're going to be a bit inconsistent, but there comes a time when we say, we've had enough time. We know enough about ourselves, we've played enough Test cricket, it's time to start performing," Warne said.
