Hughes and Warner should be Australia's long-term opening partnership in both Test and ODI cricket, with Watson at three in the ODI team and either Rogers or Alex Doolan as a stopgap three in the Test team until the next generation of Australian batsmen (Jordan Silk, Nic Maddinson, Joe Burns and Kurtis Patterson) are ready to go.
With the identity of his long-term opening partner no clearer now than when Andrew Strauss was in whites and not a suit, the captain needs to take his side to triple figures more regularly if Test matches are to be won consistently.
There are still more questions than answers around the problem of England's fitful top five, but Stoneman advanced his claim to become Cook's long-awaited long-term opening partner with a gritty knock.
On his to-find list (and this is not exhaustive) is the following: a long-term opening partner for Cook; a new number three to replace the indefinitely on leave Jonathan Trott; the wicket-keeping dilemma; the spinner issue; the problem with Finn.
Okay, in terms of long term prospects, this terrific opening weekend means a number of things.
"We can only safeguard jobs for the long term and create new openings if we reorganize the administrative functions and accept job losses now," Christoph Franz, Lufthansa's chief executive, said in a statement.
Mr. Flores added that Central America had "strengthened our development vision for the long term, based on an economic opening and the connection of the region with the rest of the world, taking advantage of our privileged geographic position".
A long-term, successful opening partnership is practically essential for the birth of a truly great Australia Test team.
But Nokia, which apologized for the site's opening jitters last month, is buckling down for the long term.
"Think long term," he said.
