Change of season: the Australians heading to county cricket

Put himself in the Ashes frame with 180 against Sri Lanka in Canberra but it's far from certain he'll get the chance to add to his 16 caps despite four hundreds in those appearances. Faded towards the back end of the Sheffield Shield season in tricky conditions against the Duke ball. Will need to fill his boots in Division Two of the County Championship.

Made an impressive return to the Shield after his ban to push claims for a Test recall. The Durham deal was signed during his suspension and now he's been promoted to captaincy as well, a move that will keep the spotlight on him even more. Away from the debate around his elevation it will be interesting to see how he balances the demands of being a captain and key batsman.

Got himself back in the Test squad but didn't played against Sri Lanka and now feels a long shot to make the Ashes tour after a disappointing first-class season where he averaged just 21.88. His deal is short-term but he will then expect to feature on the Australia A tour that precedes the Ashes but will need significant loss of form or injury among others to get in.

It remains to be seen how the next few months pan out for Shaun Marsh. Having carried the ODI batting during Australia's struggles there is a chance he will now miss out on the World Cup. His Test career appears over after being dropped following the India series, but if he's churning out runs in England and an injury hits the Ashes squad you never know.

Signed as cover for Shaun Marsh, Labuschagne is another of the incumbent Test batsmen who will be looking over their shoulder ahead of the Ashes squad being named. He has shown promise so far, with his fielding and legspin bowling adding to a useful all-round package, but needs to tighten up against the moving ball.

He opted for county cricket over an IPL stint to push his claims for a Test recall. He has found some rich ODI form during Australia's resurgence so the World Cup is a certainty but that means he won't have much red-ball cricket before then to showcase his longer-form batting.

It appears any chance to resurrect his international career has passed Ferguson by despite an era of rather limited first-class batting resources in Australia, but the flip side of that is that he becomes even more valuable to Worcestershire.

The fact his return to the ODI side did not extend beyond the India series could work in Siddle's favour as it will give him a longer run with Essex to prep for the Ashes. There is a battle for the fast-bowling slots, but his skills are perfectly suited to English conditions.

Talked up as a potential Ashes candidate during the Australia season, a hamstring injury ruled him out of the final stages of the Shield. A bagful of wickets between now and the squad selection would keep him in the frame, but the best he can probably hope for is to be in the right place at the right time if injury strikes during the series.

He is back bowling very fast and there will be some nervous county batsmen around ahead of his early-season stint. His credentials for the Ashes have become increasingly hard to ignore and now the only question seems to be how his body stands up to the workload.

Averaged 147.25 in the last season's T20 Blast and is scheduled to return after Australia's World Cup campaign. His brief spell as a Test batsman now looks over so there won't be a clash with the Ashes. Depending what England do with their Test side, there could be the chance to rekindle a thrilling opening partnership with Jason Roy.

Brought the curtain down on his BBL career with Perth Scorchers at the end of the season but will again turn out for Gloucestershire where he has made his second home.

Has signed for the T20 Blast followed his prolific BBL season and will be looking to channel the frustration of being overlooked for the World Cup squad.

A globe-trotting T20 specialist who chalked up another trophy with his key role in Melbourne Renegades' BBL triumph, Christian will return for another season with Nottinghamshire and hope to bring that winning feeling.

Four years ago Faulkner was Man of the Match in the World Cup final but now his international days look over. However, he showed at times during the BBL with Hobart Hurricanes that he remains a very effective T20 player and will continue the strong Australia influence at Lancashire this season.

Heads to the Blast having top the wicket-taking in the BBL. He now has a chance to feature in the World Cup as well due to injuries to other pace bowlers.

When Zampa topped the T20 Blast wicket-taking tally for Essex last season he wasn't part of Australia's limited-overs plans. Now he is set to head to the World Cup as their No. 1 spinner before returning to Essex for another Blast stint.

He has drifted out of the Australia set-up after a difficult season so will be looking to use the T20 Blast with Birmingham to restate his credentials before thoughts start turning to the next T20 World Cup in 2020.