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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 Timezone in the nineties. New boy Jake Weatherald had his 31st a day prior to the squad 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 the second day 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 a couple of years there has been mounting fascination with the average age of this side and especially the bowling unit. It is unusual to have nearly all player in a Test side being over 30, except for young mascot Cameron Green and custody-weekend visitor Sam Konstas. But it didn’t logically follow that greater age was a disadvantage: a Test squad featuring a four-man attack with over 1,500 wickets between them is scarcely a disadvantage, and it makes sense 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 thirties. Emerging pacemen have briefly joined squads – Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson – before disappearing for years with injury, meaning there has been no clear line of succession.

Change Imposed by Setbacks

So far, that hasn’t mattered, as the Big Four plus Boland have continued performing. Any team knows that having a batch of same-generation players might mean a batch of simultaneous retirements, but so far transition has remained hypothetical: a train that would indeed be coming round the mountain when she comes, but one that hadn’t yet become visible.

Now, suddenly, change is upon them, forced upon this Aussie team in the span 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 view, 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 injury, the balance experiences a far greater change with two players 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 major adjustment in the balance 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 entering the attack 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 overawed youth, but he might become an overawed 31-year-old. A packed stadium, half of it English, for the opening Test of a deliriously anticipated Ashes series will not make for an simple first match, no matter how many newspaper profiles describe 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 work out. What is striking is how quickly Australia have transitioned from the surety of Starc, Lyon, Cummins, Hazlewood to the uncertainty of Starc, Lyon, and others. It's unclear what further injuries the opening match may cause. It's unknown whether Cummins will be good to go for the Brisbane Test, and able to continue after Brisbane, given how tricky stress fractures can be. It's uncertain how long Hazlewood might be out, with a history of going down early in series and a pattern of minor injuries becoming extended absences.

Future Uncertain

The latter part of the series may see the main four bowlers reunited and all going well. Or it might see transition beginning much sooner than the stretch goal of 2027 in England. Not through Neser, who is apparently next in line and could be a great pink-ball Brisbane choice, but beyond that with choices unclear. Sean Abbott was in the original team, though he’s now also injured and has not yet played a Test. Richardson has just had his crash-test-dummy arm repaired, and this level is not the place for easing into one’s work. Beyond them lies the real unknown, and throughout it a chance for the visiting team. You can sense that change approaching, rolling round the corner, and the English team ain’t seen the success since they don’t know when.