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The Ashes may offer one cause for celebration, but this series will also witness the Australian team host a greater number of birthdays than Timezone in the 90s. New boy Jake Weatherald celebrated his 31st a day before the team was announced. Nathan Lyon celebrates 38 the day before the Perth Test. Beau Webster turns 32 just ahead of Brisbane, 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 by the time January is out.

Older Team Interest Grows

For two or three years there has been mounting curiosity with the average age of this side and especially the bowling unit. It is rare to have almost every player near a Test team being over 30, except for young mascot Cameron Green and occasional visitor Sam Konstas. But it wasn't necessarily true that older age was a disadvantage: a Test team featuring a four-man attack with 1,568 wickets between them is hardly a disadvantage, and it makes sense that all of those bowlers are deep into their professional lives.

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Perhaps what most amplified the talking point is that the reserve players over that time, Scott Boland and Michael Neser, are also well into their 30s. Emerging pacemen have briefly joined teams – Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson – before vanishing for years with injuries, meaning there has been no obvious replacement plan.

Change Forced by Injuries

So far, that hasn’t mattered, as the Big Four plus Boland have continued backing up. Any team knows that having a group of similarly-aged players might mean a group of similarly-timed retirements, but so far transition has remained hypothetical: a train that would certainly be arriving the bend when she comes, but one that had not become visible.

Now, abruptly, change is here, forced upon this Aussie team in the span of a short period. The back injury to Pat Cummins was taken in stride: he would probably only miss the first Test, 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 team balance undergoes a much more significant shift with two key bowlers absent rather than one. Cummins and Hazlewood as the two tight-line right-armers give the stability and precision that allows 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 balance of the side. Boland handling the new ball is not unusual in his domestic career, but he has been so successful in Tests entering the attack after seven to eight overs of early pressure. Now he’ll probably have to be the opening bowler.

Debutant Faces Expectations

Behind him will come Brendan Doggett, who at 31 years old himself isn't an intimidated youngster, but he might become an overawed 31-year-old. A full stadium crowd, half of it English, for the first Test of a eagerly awaited Ashes series will not make for an easy debut, no matter how many media stories describe 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 rapidly Australia have moved from the surety of Starc, Lyon, Cummins, Hazlewood to the uncertainty 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 good to back up after that match, given how tricky stress fractures can be. Who knows how long Hazlewood might be sidelined, with a track record of going down early in series and a history of minor injuries turning into extended absences.

Future Unclear

The latter part of the series may see the primary four bowlers reunited and all going well. Or it might see transition beginning much earlier than the stretch goal of 2027 in the UK. Not through Neser, who is seemingly the next option and could be a great day-night Brisbane option, but beyond that with options uncertain. Sean Abbott was in the original team, though he’s now also injured and has never played a Test match. Richardson has just had his crash-test-dummy arm put back on, and this format is no place for easing into one’s work. After them lies the real unknown, and throughout it opportunity for the visiting team. You can sense that train approaching, coming around the corner, and the English team hasn't seen the success since they don’t know when.