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The historic Ashes series may offer a reason to cheer, but this contest will also see the Aussie side host a greater number of birthdays than an arcade in the 90s. Recent addition Jake Weatherald celebrated his 31st a day before the team was named. Nathan Lyon turns 38 the day preceding the Test in Perth. Beau Webster reaches 32 just ahead of the Brisbane match, Usman Khawaja will be 39 on day two in Adelaide, Josh Hazlewood turns 35 on the fifth day in Sydney, and Mitchell Starc will be 36 by the time January is over.

Ageing Squad Fascination Grows

For two or three years there has been mounting fascination with the average age of this team and particularly the bowling unit. It is unusual to have almost every player in a Test team being above thirty, aside from young mascot Cameron Green and occasional visitor Sam Konstas. But it didn’t logically follow that older age was a problem: a Test squad featuring a four-man attack with 1,568 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 period, Scott Boland and Michael Neser, are also well into their 30s. Younger bowlers have floated into teams – Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson – before vanishing for years with injuries, meaning there has been no obvious replacement plan.

Transition Imposed by Injuries

So far, that hasn’t mattered, as the core four plus Boland have continued backing up. Any team knows that having a group of same-generation players might mean a batch of similarly-timed retirements, but so far change has remained hypothetical: a train that would certainly be arriving the mountain when she comes, but one that had not steamed into view.

Now, abruptly, transition is here, imposed on this Australian squad in the space of a few weeks. The spinal issue to Pat Cummins was greeted with equanimity: 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 gone down with a hamstring strain, the team balance undergoes 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 balance and control that allows Starc’s left-arm pace and swing to be used more as a weapon of attack. Missing both of them means a fundamental shift in the balance of the side. Boland taking the new ball is nothing new in his domestic career, but he has been so effective in Test matches entering the attack after seven to eight overs of initial onslaught. Now he’ll probably have to be the opening bowler.

Newcomer Faces Pressure

Behind him will come Brendan Doggett, who at 31 years old himself isn't an overawed youth, but he might become an nervous thirty-one-year-old. A packed stadium, half of it English, for the first 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 wheeled onto the field 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 work out. What is striking is how quickly Australia have transitioned from the surety 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 that match, given how tricky stress fractures can be. Who knows how long Hazlewood might be sidelined, with a history of going down early in tournaments and a pattern of minor injuries turning into longer layoffs.

Future Unclear

The back half of the series may see the primary four bowlers reunited and all performing well. Or it might see transition beginning much earlier than the long-term aim of 2027 in the UK. Not through Neser, who is seemingly next in line and could be a excellent pink-ball Brisbane option, but beyond that with options unclear. 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 repaired, and this level is no place for gradually starting one’s work. After them lies the true uncertainty, and amid it all opportunity for the visiting team. You can hear that change a-coming, rolling round the corner, and England ain’t seen the sunshine since they don’t know when.