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The Ashes may offer one cause for celebration, but this series will also see the Aussie side host a greater number of birthdays than an arcade in the 90s. Recent addition Jake Weatherald had his 31st a day before the team was announced. Nathan Lyon turns 38 the day preceding the Perth Test. Beau Webster reaches 32 just ahead of the Brisbane match, 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 before January is over.

Older Squad Fascination Builds

For a couple of years there has been mounting curiosity with the age of this team and especially the bowling attack. It is rare to have almost every player near a Test team being above thirty, except for novelty-sized mascot Cameron Green and custody-weekend visitor Sam Konstas. But it wasn't necessarily true that greater age was a disadvantage: a Test team featuring a four-bowler lineup with over 1,500 wickets between them is hardly a weakness, and it stands to reason that all of those bowlers are deep into their careers.

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Perhaps what really highlighted the discussion is that the reserve players over that period, Scott Boland and Michael Neser, are also well into their 30s. Younger bowlers have briefly joined squads – Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson – before vanishing for years with injury, meaning there has been no obvious replacement plan.

Change Imposed by Setbacks

So far, that hasn’t mattered, as the core four plus Boland have kept on performing. Any side knows that having a group of similarly-aged players might mean a group of similarly-timed departures, but so far transition has remained theoretical: a train that would certainly be coming round the mountain when she comes, but one that hadn’t yet become visible.

Now, suddenly, transition 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 opening match, was the team management assessment, and as the first-change bowler behind Starc and Hazlewood, he could easily be covered for by Boland.

But now that Hazlewood has been sidelined with a hamstring strain, the team balance experiences a much more significant 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 allows 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 balance of the team. Boland taking the new ball is not unusual in his domestic career, but he has been so successful in Tests entering the attack after seven or eight overs of initial onslaught. Now he’ll probably have to be the man up front.

Debutant Faces Pressure

Behind him will come Brendan Doggett, who at 31 years old himself isn't an intimidated youngster, but he might become an nervous thirty-one-year-old. A full stadium crowd, 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 media stories portray him as relaxed. He could be wheeled onto the field on a sun lounger and still be anxious.

Register to The Spin

It's uncertain, it might all go smoothly for this new attack. It might not work out. What is striking is how quickly Australia have moved 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 cause. It's unknown whether Cummins will be good to go for Brisbane, 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 tournaments and a pattern of initially small injuries becoming extended absences.

Outlook Unclear

The latter part of the contest may see the main four bowlers back together and all going well. Or it might experience transition beginning much earlier than the stretch goal of 2027 in England. Not through Neser, who is seemingly next in line and could be a great pink-ball Brisbane option, but beyond that with choices uncertain. Sean Abbott was in the initial squad, though he’s now also injured and has not yet played a Test. Richardson has just had his injury-prone arm repaired, and this level is not the place for easing into one’s work. Beyond them lies the true uncertainty, and amid it all a chance for the visiting team. You can hear that change a-coming, rolling round the corner, and the English team hasn't seen the sunshine since they don’t know when.