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The historic Ashes series could provide one cause for celebration, but this contest will also witness the Aussie side celebrate a greater number of birthdays than an arcade in the 90s. New boy Jake Weatherald had his 31st a day prior to the squad was named. Nathan Lyon turns 38 the day before the Perth Test. Beau Webster turns 32 just ahead of Brisbane, 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 out.

Ageing Team Interest Grows

For two or three years there has been growing curiosity with the average age of this team and especially the bowling attack. It is rare to have nearly all player in a Test side being over 30, aside from young mascot Cameron Green and occasional visitor Sam Konstas. But it wasn't necessarily true that older age was a problem: a Test team boasting a four-bowler lineup with over 1,500 wickets between them is scarcely a disadvantage, and it stands to reason that all of those bowlers are well into their professional lives.

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Perhaps what really highlighted the talking point is that the backup bowlers over that time, Scott Boland and Michael Neser, are also deep into their 30s. Emerging pacemen 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 mattered, as the core four plus Boland have continued performing. Any team knows that having a batch of same-generation players might mean a batch of simultaneous departures, but so far transition has remained theoretical: a process that would indeed be arriving the bend when she comes, but one that had not steamed into view.

Now, suddenly, change is upon them, forced upon this Australian squad in the space of a short period. The back injury to Pat Cummins was greeted with equanimity: he would likely only miss the first Test, was the team management view, and as the first bowling change behind Starc and Hazlewood, he could comfortably be covered for by Boland.

But now that Hazlewood has gone down with a hamstring strain, the team balance experiences a much more significant change with two key bowlers missing rather than 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 weapon of attack. Losing both of them means a major adjustment in the balance of the team. Boland handling the new ball is not unusual in his first-class career, but he has been so effective in Tests coming on after seven to eight overs of initial onslaught. Now he’ll probably have to be the man up front.

Debutant 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 packed stadium, 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 portray him as laid-back. He could be brought onto the ground 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 notable is how quickly Australia have transitioned from the certainty of Starc, Lyon, Cummins, Hazlewood to the unknown of Starc, Lyon, and others. Who knows what further injuries the first Test may bring. Who knows whether Cummins will be fit for Brisbane, and good to back up after that match, given how tricky stress fractures can be. It's uncertain how long Hazlewood might be sidelined, with a history of going down early in series and a pattern of initially small injuries becoming extended absences.

Future Uncertain

The back half of the contest may witness the main four bowlers reunited and all performing 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 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 never played a Test. Richardson has just had his injury-prone arm repaired, and this level is no 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 change approaching, rolling round the bend, and the English team ain’t seen the success since they don’t know when.