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The historic Ashes series could provide a reason to cheer, but this series will also see the Aussie side celebrate more birthday parties than Timezone in the 90s. New boy Jake Weatherald had his thirty-first birthday a day before the squad was named. Nathan Lyon celebrates 38 the day preceding the Test in Perth. Beau Webster reaches 32 just before 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 before January is over.

Older Team Fascination Grows

For a couple of years there has been growing fascination with the age of this team and especially the bowling attack. It is rare 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 older age was a problem: a Test team featuring a four-man attack with 1,568 wickets between them is scarcely a weakness, and it makes sense that all of those bowlers are well into their careers.

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Perhaps what really highlighted the talking point is that the reserve players over that time, Scott Boland and Michael Neser, are also deep into their 30s. Emerging pacemen have floated into squads – Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson – before vanishing for years with injury, meaning there has been no clear line of succession.

Transition Imposed by Setbacks

So far, that hasn’t mattered, as the core four plus Boland have continued backing up. Any side knows that having a batch of similarly-aged players might mean a group of simultaneous departures, but so far change has remained hypothetical: a process that would certainly be arriving the mountain when she comes, but one that had not become visible.

Now, abruptly, change is upon them, imposed on this Australian squad in the space of a few weeks. The spinal issue 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 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 balance undergoes a far greater shift with two key bowlers absent rather than a single one. Cummins and Hazlewood as the two tight-line right-armers give the stability and precision that enables Starc’s left-arm speed and movement to be used more as a weapon of attack. Missing both of them means a major adjustment in the composition of the side. Boland taking the new ball is nothing new in his domestic career, but he has been so effective in Tests entering the attack after seven or eight overs of early pressure. Now he’ll likely have to be the man up front.

Debutant Confronts Expectations

Behind him will come Brendan Doggett, who at 31 years old himself won’t be an overawed youth, but he might become an nervous thirty-one-year-old. A packed stadium, partly English, for the opening Test of a deliriously anticipated Ashes series will not make for an easy debut, no matter how many media stories describe him as laid-back. He could be brought onto the ground on a sun lounger 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 notable is how rapidly Australia have moved from the surety of Starc, Lyon, Cummins, Hazlewood to the unknown of Starc, Lyon, and others. Who knows what further injuries the first Test may cause. It's unknown whether Cummins will be good to go for Brisbane, and able to continue after that match, given how tricky stress injuries can be. Who knows how long Hazlewood might be sidelined, with a track record of getting injured early in series and a pattern of minor injuries turning into longer layoffs.

Future Unclear

The back half of the contest may witness the main four bowlers back together 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 excellent pink-ball Brisbane option, but after that with choices uncertain. Sean Abbott was in the initial squad, though he’s now also hurt and has not yet played a Test match. Richardson has just had his injury-prone arm put back on, and this level is no place for gradually starting one’s work. After them lies the true uncertainty, and throughout it a chance for the visiting team. You can sense that train approaching, rolling round the bend, and England hasn't seen the sunshine since they can't recall when.