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The Ashes could provide one cause for celebration, but this series will also witness the Australian team celebrate a greater number of birthdays than Timezone in the 90s. New boy Jake Weatherald celebrated his 31st a day before the team was named. Nathan Lyon celebrates 38 the day preceding the Perth Test. Beau Webster reaches 32 just ahead of Brisbane, Usman Khawaja will be 39 on day two in Adelaide, Josh Hazlewood becomes 35 on the final day in Sydney, and Mitchell Starc will be 36 by the time January is out.

Older Team Fascination Builds

For a couple of years there has been mounting curiosity with the average age of this team and especially the bowling attack. It is unusual to have nearly all player near a Test side being above thirty, except for novelty-sized mascot Cameron Green and occasional visitor Sam Konstas. But it wasn't necessarily true that older age was a disadvantage: a Test squad boasting a four-bowler lineup 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 talking point is that the reserve players over that period, Scott Boland and Michael Neser, are also well into their thirties. Emerging pacemen have briefly joined teams – Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson – before vanishing for years with injury, meaning there has been no clear line of succession.

Transition Forced by Injuries

So far, that hasn’t mattered, as the core four plus Boland have continued performing. Any side knows that having a batch of similarly-aged players might mean a group of simultaneous departures, but so far change has remained hypothetical: a process that would indeed be arriving the mountain when she comes, but one that had not become visible.

Now, abruptly, transition is here, forced upon this Aussie team in the space of a few weeks. The back injury to Pat Cummins was greeted with equanimity: he would probably only miss the first Test, was the Cricket Australia assessment, and as the first bowling change 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 far greater shift with two key bowlers absent rather than a single 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. Missing both of them means a fundamental shift in the composition of the team. Boland taking the new ball is not unusual in his first-class career, but he has been so successful in Test matches coming on after seven or eight overs of initial onslaught. Now he’ll likely have to be the opening bowler.

Debutant Faces Pressure

Behind him will come Brendan Doggett, who at 31 years old himself won’t be an intimidated youngster, but he might become an nervous thirty-one-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 describe him as laid-back. He could be wheeled onto the field on a banana lounge and still be anxious.

Register to The Spin

It's uncertain, it might all go smoothly for this new attack. It might not. What is striking is how quickly Australia have transitioned from the surety of Starc, Lyon, Cummins, Hazlewood to the uncertainty of Starc, Lyon, mumble mumble. Who knows what new injuries the opening match may cause. Who knows whether Cummins will be fit for the Brisbane Test, and good to back up after Brisbane, given how complicated stress fractures can be. Who knows how long Hazlewood might be sidelined, with a history of going down early in tournaments and a history of minor injuries becoming longer layoffs.

Outlook Unclear

The latter part of the contest may see the primary four bowlers reunited and all going well. Or it might see transition setting in much earlier than the stretch goal of 2027 in the UK. Not through Neser, who is apparently the next option and could be a great day-night Brisbane option, but after that with options unclear. Sean Abbott was in the initial squad, though he’s now also hurt and has not yet played a Test match. Richardson has just had his injury-prone arm put back on, and this format is not the place for gradually starting one’s work. Beyond them lies the true uncertainty, and amid it all a chance for the opposing side. You can sense that change a-coming, coming around the bend, and England hasn't seen the success since they can't recall when.