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The Ashes may offer a reason to cheer, but this series will also witness the Australian team host more birthday parties than an arcade in the nineties. New boy Jake Weatherald celebrated his thirty-first birthday a day prior to the team was named. Nathan Lyon turns 38 the day preceding the Test in Perth. Beau Webster turns 32 just before the Brisbane match, Usman Khawaja will be 39 on the second day in Adelaide, Josh Hazlewood becomes 35 on the fifth day in Sydney, and Mitchell Starc will be 36 by the time January is over.

Older Squad Interest Grows

For two or three years there has been mounting curiosity with the average age of this side and particularly the bowling attack. It is unusual to have nearly all player in a Test side 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 team boasting a four-bowler lineup with over 1,500 wickets between them is hardly a disadvantage, and it stands to reason 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 briefly joined squads – Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson – before vanishing for years with injuries, meaning there has been no obvious replacement plan.

Transition Forced by Setbacks

So far, that hasn't been an issue, as the Big Four plus Boland have kept on backing up. Any team knows that having a batch of same-generation players might mean a group of similarly-timed departures, but so far change has remained theoretical: a train that would indeed be coming round the bend when she comes, but one that had not steamed into view.

Now, abruptly, transition is upon them, imposed on this Aussie team in the space of a short period. The spinal issue to Pat Cummins was taken in stride: he would probably only miss the first Test, was the Cricket Australia view, and as the first bowling change behind Starc and Hazlewood, he could comfortably be covered for by Boland.

But now that Hazlewood has been sidelined with a hamstring injury, the team balance experiences a much more significant shift with two players absent rather than one. Cummins and Hazlewood as the two accurate right-arm bowlers give the balance and control that enables 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 not unusual in his domestic career, but he has been so successful in Tests coming on after seven to eight overs of early pressure. Now he’ll probably have to be the opening bowler.

Debutant Confronts Expectations

Behind him will come Brendan Doggett, who at thirty-one years of age himself isn't an overawed youth, but he might become an overawed 31-year-old. A full stadium crowd, half of it English, for the opening Test of a deliriously anticipated Ashes series will not make for an easy debut, no matter how many newspaper profiles describe him as relaxed. He could be brought onto the field on a banana lounge and still be anxious.

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Who knows, it might all go swimmingly for this new attack. It might not. What is striking is how rapidly Australia have transitioned from the certainty of Starc, Lyon, Cummins, Hazlewood to the unknown of Starc, Lyon, and others. Who knows what new injuries the opening match may bring. Who knows whether Cummins will be good to go for Brisbane, and able to continue after Brisbane, given how tricky stress fractures can be. Who knows how long Hazlewood might be sidelined, with a history of going down early in series and a pattern of minor injuries turning into longer layoffs.

Future Uncertain

The back half of the contest may see the primary four bowlers reunited and all performing well. Or it might see transition setting in much sooner than the long-term aim of 2027 in the UK. Not through Neser, who is seemingly the next option and could be a great day-night Brisbane choice, but after that with choices unclear. Sean Abbott was in the initial squad, though he’s now also hurt and has not yet played a Test. Richardson has just had his injury-prone arm repaired, and this format is not the place for gradually starting one’s work. After them lies the real unknown, and amid it all a chance for the opposing side. You can sense that train approaching, rolling round the corner, and England ain’t seen the sunshine since they can't recall when.