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The Ashes could provide a reason to cheer, but this series will also witness the Aussie side host more birthday parties than Timezone in the nineties. Recent addition Jake Weatherald celebrated his 31st a day before the team was named. Nathan Lyon celebrates 38 the day preceding the Perth Test. 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 final day in Sydney, and Mitchell Starc will be 36 by the time January is out.

Older Squad Interest Grows

For two or three years there has been mounting curiosity with the age of this team and particularly the bowling attack. It is rare to have almost every player in a Test side being over 30, except for novelty-sized mascot Cameron Green and custody-weekend visitor Sam Konstas. But it didn’t logically follow that older age was a disadvantage: a Test team 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 deep into their careers.

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Perhaps what most amplified the discussion 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 vanishing for years with injury, meaning there has been no obvious replacement plan.

Transition Forced by Setbacks

So far, that hasn't been an issue, as the core four plus Boland have continued backing up. Any side knows that having a batch of same-generation players might mean a batch of simultaneous retirements, but so far transition has remained theoretical: a train that would indeed be coming round the mountain when she comes, but one that hadn’t yet steamed into view.

Now, suddenly, change is upon them, forced upon this Australian squad in the span of a short period. The back injury to Pat Cummins was greeted with equanimity: he would likely only sit out the opening match, was the team management assessment, and as the first-change bowler behind Starc and Hazlewood, he could easily be replaced by Boland.

But now that Hazlewood has been sidelined with a hamstring injury, the team balance undergoes a much more significant change with two players missing 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. Losing both of them means a fundamental shift in the balance of the side. Boland taking the new ball is nothing new in his first-class career, but he has been so successful in Test matches coming on after seven or eight overs of early pressure. Now he’ll likely have to be the man up front.

Newcomer Faces Expectations

Behind him will come Brendan Doggett, who at thirty-one years of age himself isn't an intimidated youngster, but he might become an nervous thirty-one-year-old. A full stadium crowd, partly English, for the opening Test of a eagerly awaited Ashes series will not make for an simple first match, no matter how many media stories portray him as relaxed. 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. What is notable is how quickly Australia have transitioned from the certainty of Starc, Lyon, Cummins, Hazlewood to the unknown of Starc, Lyon, and others. It's unclear what further injuries the first Test may cause. Who knows whether Cummins will be fit for Brisbane, and good to back up after Brisbane, given how tricky stress fractures can be. Who knows how long Hazlewood might be out, with a history of getting injured early in series and a history of initially small injuries becoming longer layoffs.

Future Uncertain

The latter part of the series may witness the main four bowlers reunited and all performing well. Or it might see transition beginning much earlier than the stretch goal of 2027 in England. Not through Neser, who is apparently next in line and could be a excellent day-night Brisbane choice, but after that with choices uncertain. Sean Abbott was in the original team, though he’s now also hurt and has not yet played a Test. Richardson has just had his injury-prone arm repaired, and this format is no place for gradually starting one’s work. After them lies the real unknown, and amid it all opportunity for the visiting team. You can hear that train approaching, rolling round the bend, and the English team hasn't seen the success since they can't recall when.