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The historic Ashes series may offer a reason to cheer, but this series will also see the Australian team celebrate more birthday parties than Timezone in the nineties. Recent addition Jake Weatherald had his thirty-first birthday a day before the team was announced. Nathan Lyon celebrates 38 the day before the Test in Perth. Beau Webster reaches 32 just ahead of Brisbane, Usman Khawaja will be 39 on the second day in Adelaide, Josh Hazlewood becomes 35 on the final day in Sydney, and Mitchell Starc will be 36 before January is out.

Ageing Squad Fascination Grows

For two or three years there has been mounting curiosity with the average age of this side and particularly the bowling unit. It is rare to have nearly all player near a Test team being over 30, except for novelty-sized mascot Cameron Green and custody-weekend visitor Sam Konstas. But it wasn't necessarily true that greater age was a problem: a Test squad boasting a four-man attack with over 1,500 wickets between them is scarcely a weakness, and it stands to reason that all of those bowlers are deep into their careers.

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Perhaps what most amplified the talking point is that the backup bowlers over that time, Scott Boland and Michael Neser, are also deep into their thirties. Emerging pacemen have briefly joined teams – Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson – before disappearing for years with injuries, meaning there has been no obvious replacement plan.

Transition Imposed by Setbacks

So far, that hasn’t mattered, as the core four plus Boland have continued backing up. Any side knows that having a group of similarly-aged players might mean a batch of simultaneous retirements, but so far transition has remained hypothetical: a process that would certainly be coming round the mountain when she comes, but one that had not steamed into view.

Now, suddenly, change is upon them, imposed on this Aussie team in the space of a short period. The back injury to Pat Cummins was greeted with equanimity: he would likely only miss the first Test, was the team management assessment, and as the first-change bowler behind Starc and Hazlewood, he could easily be covered for by Boland.

But now that Hazlewood has gone down with a hamstring strain, the balance undergoes a much more significant shift with two key bowlers missing rather than one. Cummins and Hazlewood as the two accurate right-arm bowlers give the stability and precision that enables Starc’s left-arm pace and swing to be used more as a attacking option. Losing both of them means a major adjustment in the composition of the side. Boland handling the new ball is nothing new in his domestic career, but he has been so successful in Test matches coming on after seven or eight overs of early pressure. Now he’ll probably have to be the opening bowler.

Newcomer Faces Pressure

Behind him will come Brendan Doggett, who at thirty-one years of age himself won’t be an overawed youth, but he might become an overawed 31-year-old. A full stadium crowd, half of it English, for the first Test of a deliriously anticipated Ashes series will not make for an simple first match, no matter how many media stories describe him as laid-back. He could be brought onto the field on a sun lounger and still be nervous.

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It's uncertain, it might all go smoothly for this new attack. It might not work out. What is notable is how rapidly Australia have moved from the certainty of Starc, Lyon, Cummins, Hazlewood to the uncertainty of Starc, Lyon, mumble mumble. Who knows what further injuries the first Test may bring. Who knows whether Cummins will be good to go for the Brisbane Test, and good to back up after that match, given how complicated stress fractures can be. It's uncertain how long Hazlewood might be sidelined, with a history of getting injured early in series and a history of minor injuries becoming longer layoffs.

Outlook Unclear

The latter part of the series may witness the main four bowlers reunited and all going well. Or it might see transition setting in much earlier than the stretch goal of 2027 in England. Not through Neser, who is apparently next in line and could be a great pink-ball Brisbane choice, but beyond that with options uncertain. Sean Abbott was in the initial squad, though he’s now also injured and has never played a Test. Richardson has just had his injury-prone arm put back on, and this format is not the place for gradually starting one’s work. After them lies the real unknown, and amid it all opportunity for the opposing side. You can sense that train a-coming, coming around the bend, and the English team ain’t seen the success since they can't recall when.