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The Ashes may offer a reason to cheer, but this series will also see the Australian team host a greater number of birthdays than Timezone in the nineties. Recent addition Jake Weatherald celebrated his thirty-first birthday a day before the team was announced. Nathan Lyon celebrates 38 the day preceding 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 turns 35 on the final day in Sydney, and Mitchell Starc will be 36 before January is over.

Ageing Squad Fascination Builds

For two or three years there has been growing fascination with the age of this team and especially the bowling attack. It is unusual to have almost every player in a Test team being above thirty, except for young mascot Cameron Green and occasional visitor Sam Konstas. But it didn’t logically follow that older age was a problem: a Test team boasting a four-man attack with over 1,500 wickets between them is scarcely a disadvantage, and it makes sense that all of those bowlers are well into their careers.

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Perhaps what most amplified the discussion is that the backup bowlers over that period, Scott Boland and Michael Neser, are also well into their thirties. Younger bowlers have floated into squads – Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson – before disappearing for years with injuries, meaning there has been no obvious replacement plan.

Transition Forced by Setbacks

So far, that hasn’t mattered, as the core four plus Boland have continued performing. Any team knows that having a batch of similarly-aged players might mean a group of similarly-timed retirements, but so far change has remained theoretical: a process that would indeed be coming round the bend when she comes, but one that hadn’t yet steamed into view.

Now, abruptly, change is here, imposed on this Aussie team in the space of a short period. The back injury to Pat Cummins was taken in stride: he would probably only miss the opening match, was the Cricket Australia view, and as the first-change bowler behind Starc and Hazlewood, he could easily be replaced by Boland.

But now that Hazlewood has gone down with a hamstring strain, the team 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 balance and control that allows Starc’s left-arm pace and swing to be used more as a weapon of attack. Losing both of them means a major adjustment in the composition of the team. Boland taking the new ball is nothing new in his first-class career, but he has been so successful in Test matches entering the attack after seven to eight overs of initial onslaught. Now he’ll probably have to be the opening bowler.

Debutant Confronts Expectations

Behind him will come Brendan Doggett, who at 31 years old himself won’t be an intimidated youngster, but he might become an overawed 31-year-old. A full stadium crowd, partly 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 portray him as relaxed. He could be wheeled onto the ground on a banana lounge and still be anxious.

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It's uncertain, it might all go swimmingly for this new attack. It might not. What is notable is how quickly Australia have transitioned from the certainty of Starc, Lyon, Cummins, Hazlewood to the unknown of Starc, Lyon, mumble mumble. It's unclear what new injuries the first Test may cause. Who knows whether Cummins will be fit for Brisbane, and good to back up after Brisbane, given how tricky stress fractures can be. It's uncertain how long Hazlewood might be out, with a track record of going down early in tournaments and a pattern of initially small injuries turning into longer layoffs.

Future Unclear

The back half of the series may see the main four bowlers reunited and all performing well. Or it might see transition setting in much sooner than the long-term aim of 2027 in England. Not through Neser, who is seemingly the next option and could be a excellent pink-ball Brisbane option, but after that with options unclear. Sean Abbott was in the initial squad, though he’s now also injured and has not yet 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 true uncertainty, and amid it all opportunity for the visiting team. You can hear that train a-coming, coming around the corner, and the English team ain’t seen the success since they can't recall when.