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The Ashes could provide one cause for celebration, but this series will also see the Australian team host a greater number of birthdays than Timezone in the nineties. New boy Jake Weatherald had his thirty-first birthday a day prior to the team was named. Nathan Lyon celebrates 38 the day preceding the Perth Test. Beau Webster reaches 32 just ahead of Brisbane, Usman Khawaja will be 39 on the second day 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 Team Fascination Builds

For two or three years there has been mounting fascination with the age of this team and especially the bowling attack. It is unusual to have almost every player near a Test team being above thirty, aside from novelty-sized mascot Cameron Green and custody-weekend visitor Sam Konstas. But it wasn't necessarily true that older age was a problem: a Test squad boasting a four-bowler lineup with 1,568 wickets between them is scarcely a weakness, and it stands to reason that all of those bowlers are deep into their careers.

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Perhaps what most amplified the talking point is that the reserve players over that time, Scott Boland and Michael Neser, are also well into their 30s. Younger bowlers have briefly joined squads – Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson – before disappearing 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 kept on backing up. Any team knows that having a group of similarly-aged players might mean a group of simultaneous departures, but so far transition has remained theoretical: a train that would certainly be arriving the bend when she comes, but one that hadn’t yet become visible.

Now, suddenly, transition is upon them, imposed on this Aussie team in the space of a short period. The back injury to Pat Cummins was greeted with equanimity: he would probably only miss the first Test, was the Cricket Australia view, and as the first bowling change behind Starc and Hazlewood, he could comfortably be replaced by Boland.

But now that Hazlewood has been sidelined with a hamstring injury, 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 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 composition of the side. Boland handling the new ball is nothing new in his first-class career, but he has been so successful in Test matches entering the attack after seven to eight overs of early pressure. Now he’ll likely have to be the opening bowler.

Debutant Faces Expectations

Behind him will come Brendan Doggett, who at 31 years old himself isn't an overawed youth, but he might become an overawed 31-year-old. A packed stadium, half of it English, for the opening Test of a eagerly awaited 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 ground on a sun lounger and still be anxious.

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Who knows, it might all go smoothly for this new attack. It might not work out. What is notable is how quickly Australia have moved from the certainty of Starc, Lyon, Cummins, Hazlewood to the unknown of Starc, Lyon, mumble mumble. Who knows what new injuries the opening match may cause. It's unknown whether Cummins will be fit for the Brisbane Test, and able to continue after that match, given how complicated stress injuries can be. Who knows how long Hazlewood might be out, with a track record of going down early in tournaments and a pattern of minor injuries becoming longer layoffs.

Outlook Unclear

The back half of the series may witness the main four bowlers back together and all going well. Or it might see transition setting in much earlier than the stretch goal of 2027 in the UK. Not through Neser, who is seemingly next in line and could be a excellent day-night Brisbane choice, but beyond that with options unclear. Sean Abbott was in the original team, though he’s now also hurt and has never played a Test. Richardson has just had his crash-test-dummy arm put back on, and this level is no place for easing into one’s work. Beyond them lies the real unknown, and amid it all opportunity for the visiting team. You can sense that change approaching, rolling round the corner, and the English team hasn't seen the sunshine since they can't recall when.