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The Ashes may offer one cause for celebration, but this series will also see the Australian team host a greater number of birthdays than Timezone in the nineties. Recent addition Jake Weatherald had his thirty-first birthday a day prior to the squad was named. Nathan Lyon turns 38 the day before the Test in Perth. Beau Webster reaches 32 just ahead of the Brisbane match, Usman Khawaja will be 39 on day two in Adelaide, Josh Hazlewood turns 35 on the final day in Sydney, and Mitchell Starc will be 36 before January is out.

Ageing Squad Interest Builds

For a couple of years there has been mounting fascination with the average age of this side and particularly the bowling unit. It is unusual to have nearly all player near a Test team being above thirty, aside from young mascot Cameron Green and custody-weekend visitor Sam Konstas. But it didn’t logically follow that older age was a problem: a Test squad boasting a four-man attack with over 1,500 wickets between them is scarcely a disadvantage, 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 period, Scott Boland and Michael Neser, are also deep into their 30s. Emerging pacemen have briefly joined teams – Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson – before disappearing for years with injuries, meaning there has been no obvious replacement plan.

Change Imposed by Setbacks

So far, that hasn't been an issue, as the Big Four plus Boland have continued performing. Any side knows that having a group of same-generation players might mean a group of similarly-timed departures, but so far change has remained hypothetical: a process that would certainly be arriving the bend when she comes, but one that had not steamed into view.

Now, suddenly, transition is upon them, forced upon this Aussie team in the space of a short period. The back injury to Pat Cummins was taken in stride: he would likely only miss the opening match, was the team management assessment, and as the first-change bowler behind Starc and Hazlewood, he could comfortably be replaced by Boland.

But now that Hazlewood has been sidelined with a hamstring injury, the balance experiences a much more significant change with two players absent rather than a single one. Cummins and Hazlewood as the two tight-line right-armers give the balance and control that enables Starc’s left-arm speed and movement to be used more as a attacking option. 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 effective in Test matches coming on after seven or eight overs of initial onslaught. Now he’ll likely have to be the opening bowler.

Newcomer Confronts Expectations

Behind him will come Brendan Doggett, who at thirty-one years of age himself isn't an intimidated youngster, but he might become an overawed 31-year-old. A packed stadium, half of it English, for the opening Test of a eagerly awaited Ashes series will not make for an simple first match, no matter how many media stories portray him as relaxed. He could be brought onto the field on a sun lounger and still be nervous.

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Who knows, it might all go swimmingly for this new attack. It might not work out. What is striking is how quickly Australia have moved from the surety of Starc, Lyon, Cummins, Hazlewood to the unknown of Starc, Lyon, mumble mumble. Who knows what further injuries the opening match may bring. It's unknown whether Cummins will be good to go for Brisbane, and able to continue 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 history of initially small injuries becoming extended absences.

Outlook Unclear

The latter part of the series may see the main four bowlers back together and all performing well. Or it might see transition beginning much sooner than the stretch goal of 2027 in England. Not through Neser, who is seemingly the next option and could be a great pink-ball Brisbane choice, but after that with choices unclear. Sean Abbott was in the original team, though he’s now also injured and has not yet played a Test. Richardson has just had his injury-prone arm repaired, and this level is not the place for easing into one’s work. After them lies the true uncertainty, and throughout it opportunity for the opposing side. You can sense that train a-coming, rolling round the corner, and the English team ain’t seen the sunshine since they don’t know when.