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The historic Ashes series could provide a reason to cheer, but this series will also witness the Aussie side celebrate more birthday parties than an arcade in the 90s. New boy Jake Weatherald celebrated his 31st a day prior to the squad was announced. Nathan Lyon celebrates 38 the day preceding the Perth Test. Beau Webster turns 32 just before 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 before January is out.

Ageing Team Interest Grows

For two or three years there has been growing fascination with the average age of this team and especially the bowling unit. It is rare to have almost every player in a Test side being over 30, aside from young mascot Cameron Green and custody-weekend visitor Sam Konstas. But it wasn't necessarily true that greater 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 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 thirties. Younger bowlers have briefly joined squads – Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson – before disappearing for years with injury, 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 performing. Any team knows that having a group of same-generation players might mean a batch of similarly-timed departures, but so far transition has remained theoretical: a process that would certainly be coming round the mountain when she comes, but one that hadn’t yet become visible.

Now, abruptly, change is upon them, imposed on this Australian squad in the span of a short period. The back injury to Pat Cummins was taken in stride: he would probably only sit out the first Test, was the Cricket Australia view, 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 strain, the team balance undergoes a far greater change with two key bowlers missing rather than one. Cummins and Hazlewood as the two tight-line right-armers give the balance and control that allows Starc’s left-arm speed and movement to be used more as a weapon of attack. Losing both of them means a fundamental shift in the composition of the team. Boland handling the new ball is nothing new in his domestic career, but he has been so effective in Tests coming on after seven or eight overs of initial onslaught. Now he’ll likely have to be the opening bowler.

Newcomer Confronts Pressure

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 full stadium crowd, partly 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 laid-back. He could be wheeled onto the field on a banana lounge and still be nervous.

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It's uncertain, it might all go smoothly for this revamped bowling lineup. 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, mumble mumble. Who knows what new injuries the first Test may bring. It's unknown whether Cummins will be fit for Brisbane, and good to back up after Brisbane, given how tricky stress injuries can be. It's uncertain how long Hazlewood might be sidelined, with a history of going down early in series and a history of minor injuries turning into longer layoffs.

Outlook Unclear

The back half of the series may witness the main four bowlers reunited and all going well. Or it might experience transition setting in much sooner than the long-term aim of 2027 in the UK. Not through Neser, who is apparently next in line and could be a great day-night Brisbane choice, but beyond that with options unclear. Sean Abbott was in the initial squad, though he’s now also injured and has never played a Test. Richardson has just had his crash-test-dummy arm repaired, and this format is no place for easing into one’s work. Beyond them lies the real unknown, and amid it all opportunity for the visiting team. You can hear that change approaching, rolling round the corner, and England ain’t seen the sunshine since they don’t know when.