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The historic Ashes series may offer a reason to cheer, but this series will also witness the Aussie side host a greater number of birthdays than an arcade in the nineties. Recent addition Jake Weatherald had his 31st a day before the team was named. Nathan Lyon turns 38 the day preceding the Perth Test. Beau Webster turns 32 just before the Brisbane match, Usman Khawaja will be 39 on the second day in Adelaide, Josh Hazlewood becomes 35 on the final day in Sydney, and Mitchell Starc will be 36 before January is out.

Older Team Fascination Builds

For a couple of years there has been mounting fascination with the age of this team and particularly the bowling attack. It is unusual to have almost every player in a Test side being over 30, aside from young mascot Cameron Green and custody-weekend visitor Sam Konstas. But it didn’t logically follow that older age was a problem: a Test squad boasting 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.

I've never felt this sure at the start of an away Ashes series | a former player

Perhaps what most amplified the talking point is that the backup bowlers over that time, Scott Boland and Michael Neser, are also well into their thirties. Emerging pacemen have briefly joined teams – Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson – before vanishing for years with injury, meaning there has been no obvious replacement plan.

Transition Forced by Setbacks

So far, that hasn’t mattered, as the Big Four plus Boland have continued backing up. Any side knows that having a group of similarly-aged players might mean a group of simultaneous retirements, but so far transition has remained theoretical: a train that would certainly be coming round the mountain when she comes, but one that had not become visible.

Now, suddenly, transition is here, forced upon this Australian squad in the space of a short period. The spinal issue to Pat Cummins was taken in stride: he would probably only miss the opening match, 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 been sidelined with a hamstring strain, the balance undergoes a far greater change with two key bowlers absent rather than one. Cummins and Hazlewood as the two tight-line right-armers give the stability and precision that allows Starc’s left-arm speed and movement to be used more as a attacking option. Missing both of them means a major adjustment in the balance of the team. Boland handling the new ball is nothing new 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 opening bowler.

Debutant Faces 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 full stadium crowd, half of it English, for the opening Test of a deliriously anticipated Ashes series will not make for an easy debut, no matter how many newspaper profiles describe him as relaxed. He could be wheeled onto the field on a sun lounger and still be nervous.

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It's uncertain, it might all go swimmingly for this new attack. It might not. What is notable is how rapidly Australia have moved from the certainty of Starc, Lyon, Cummins, Hazlewood to the uncertainty of Starc, Lyon, and others. It's unclear what further injuries the first Test may bring. Who knows whether Cummins will be fit 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 getting injured early in series and a pattern of initially small injuries turning into extended absences.

Outlook Uncertain

The back half of the contest may witness the primary four bowlers reunited and all performing well. Or it might see transition beginning 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 beyond that with choices uncertain. Sean Abbott was in the initial squad, though he’s now also hurt 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 real unknown, and amid it all a chance for the visiting team. You can sense that train approaching, rolling round the corner, and England ain’t seen the success since they can't recall when.