TIMES OF MASS UPHEAVAL IN THE BAGGY GREEN:
* With the potential for four players - Matt Renshaw, Peter Handscomb, Nic Maddison and Chadd Sayers - to make their Test debut in the series final against South Africa in Adelaide, it would represent the biggest influx of new talent since World Series Cricket decimated the Australian side in 1977-78.
* Since WWII, there have been only four instances in Australian cricket where four or more players have debuted in the same Test.
* The first occasion was in the first Test after the war, when seven players - including greats Keith Miller, Ray Lindwall and Ian Johnston - debuted against New Zealand at the Basin Reserve in 1946. Australia won that one-off Test and the six Test series that followed.
* Four players, including Wally Grout and Bob Simpson, debuted in the first Test of the 1957-58 tour of South Africa. Australia claimed the series 3-0 and won the five series that followed.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
* In the first series after World Series Cricket - against India in 1977-78 - Australia debuted six players in the opener at the Gabba and another four in the deciding final Test in Adelaide. Australia won both and the series 3-2 but only won one of the seven series that followed.
* Should Chadd Sayers miss out on the final XI in Adelaide this week, it will mark the 15th time since WWII Australia has debuted three or more players in a Test, the most recent being at the Gabba in 2011 when David Warner, Mitchell Starc and James Pattinson were handed their first baggy green against New Zealand.
