The possibility of four brand new Baggy Green caps being handed out in Dubai this weekend serves as a stark reminder of the recent upheaval in Australian cricket.

Aaron Finch and Travis Head have all but been confirmed to make their Test debuts in the first Test against Pakistan and they could be joined by uncapped Queensland duo Michael Neser and Marnus Labuschagne; Neser is the frontrunner to edge out Peter Siddle as the second fast bowler while Matthew Renshaw's disrupted preparation could see Labuschagne earn a call-up.

Should all four be handed their Baggy Greens on Sunday, it would represent the first time Australia have fielded four debutants in a Test since the World Series Cricket split more than 40 years ago.

And putting aside the unprecedented turmoil of that period, and Tests immediately following both World Wars, it would be just the third time in a century that Australia have taken four new players into a Test.

The reasons for the multiple new faces in the UAE have been well-documented; the suspension of three top-order batsmen and the absence of injured quicks Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins means five first-choice players are unavailable, while new coach and selector Justin Langer has been unsurprisingly keen to make some changes at the start of his new era.

The fact this series is being played on the dry surfaces of the UAE instead of the pace-friendly conditions encountered on Australia's last tour in South Africa has also played a role.

But the fact four debutants is such a historical anomaly in the 812 previous Tests Australia have played underlines the challenges faced by Langer's re-shaped side.

Australia played seven debutants in their first Test following both World Wars - in Sydney in 1920 and Wellington in 1946, each match coming after an eight-year gap between Tests - and there were six new faces for the opening Test of the 1977-78 season, the first after the nation's best players jumped onboard the World Series Cricket train. A total of 12 players made their debuts in that five-Test series against India - six in the first Test, two in the second and four in the fifth - as they attempted to cover the enormous holes left by the exits of the Chappell brothers, Dennis Lillee and Rod Marsh.

Twenty years earlier, the man who led Australia's undermanned Test side through the mire of that WSC split - captain Bob Simpson - made his own Test debut in Johannesburg alongside Ian Meckiff, Lindsay Kline and Wally Grout in the first of five Tests against South Africa.

There were several reasons for the mass change in that 1957-58 touring party. Australia's previous Test campaign had come in vastly different conditions on the subcontinent more than 12 months earlier, while a third consecutive Ashes defeat in 1956 led selectors to boldly make radical changes including axing star quick Ray Lindwall and installing Ian Craig as the nation's youngest ever captain. Star batsman Neil Harvey also missed the opening Test due to injury.

And more than two decades before that Jo’burg Test came the only previous instance of Australia naming four debutants; the retirement of former skipper Victor Richardson, an injury to star opener Bill Brown and the controversial axing of 45-year-old spinner Clarrie Grimmett led to four new faces being picked for the start of the 1936-37 Ashes series.

The rareness of picking four new players does come with a good omen for the current side; the five previous campaigns in which Australia have selected four debutants in a single Test has led to a series victory for the Australians.

Making it six from six would be the perfect start to Langer's new era.

Australia playing four or more debutants in a Test (since 1918):

1920: Against England in Sydney - Herbie Collins, Johnny Taylor, Nip Pellew, Jack Ryder, Jack Gregory, Bert Oldfield and Arthur Mailey debuted (Australia's first Test since 1912)

1936: Against England in Brisbane - Jack Badcock, Morris Sievers, Ray Robinson, Frank Ward debuted

1946: Against New Zealand in Wellington - Ken Meuleman, Keith Miller, Colin McCool, Ian Johnson, Don Tallon, Ray Lindwall, Ernie Toshack debuted (Australia's first Test since 1938)

1957: Against South Africa in Johannesburg - Bob Simpson, Wally Grout, Ian Meckiff, Lindsay Kline debuted

1977: Against India in Brisbane - Paul Hibbert, David Ogilvie, Peter Toohey, Tony Mann, Steve Rixon, Wayne Clarke debuted (Australia's first Test since WSC split)

1978: Against India in Perth - Graeme Wood, Rick Darling, Bruce Yardley, Ian Callen debuted