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The historic Ashes series may offer one cause for celebration, but this contest will also see the Australian team host a greater number of birthdays than an arcade in the 90s. New boy Jake Weatherald celebrated his 31st a day prior to the team was announced. Nathan Lyon turns 38 the day preceding the Test in Perth. 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 before January is out.

Ageing Team Fascination Builds

For two or three years there has been mounting fascination with the age of this side and particularly the bowling unit. It is rare to have almost every player in a Test side being over 30, 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-man attack 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 really highlighted the discussion is that the backup bowlers over that time, Scott Boland and Michael Neser, are also deep into their 30s. Emerging pacemen have briefly joined teams – Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson – before disappearing for years with injuries, meaning there has been no clear line of succession.

Change Imposed by Injuries

So far, that hasn’t mattered, as the core four plus Boland have continued backing up. Any side knows that having a group of similarly-aged players might mean a batch of similarly-timed departures, but so far transition has remained hypothetical: a train that would certainly be arriving the bend when she comes, but one that hadn’t yet steamed into view.

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

But now that Hazlewood has gone down with a hamstring strain, the balance experiences a far greater shift with two players missing rather than one. Cummins and Hazlewood as the two tight-line right-armers 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 team. Boland taking the new ball is nothing new in his domestic career, but he has been so effective in Tests coming on after seven or eight overs of initial onslaught. Now he’ll probably have to be the opening bowler.

Newcomer Confronts Expectations

Behind him will come Brendan Doggett, who at 31 years old himself won’t be an intimidated youngster, but he might become an nervous thirty-one-year-old. A packed stadium, half of it English, for the opening Test of a eagerly awaited Ashes series will not make for an easy debut, no matter how many media stories describe him as laid-back. He could be brought onto the field on a sun lounger and still be nervous.

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Who knows, it might all go smoothly for this new attack. It might not. What is striking is how rapidly Australia have transitioned from the certainty of Starc, Lyon, Cummins, Hazlewood to the uncertainty of Starc, Lyon, mumble mumble. Who knows what further injuries the opening match may bring. It's unknown whether Cummins will be fit for the Brisbane Test, and able to continue after Brisbane, given how tricky stress injuries can be. It's uncertain how long Hazlewood might be out, with a history of getting injured early in tournaments and a pattern of minor injuries becoming longer layoffs.

Future Uncertain

The latter part of the series may witness the primary four bowlers back together and all performing well. Or it might see transition setting in much sooner than the long-term aim of 2027 in England. Not through Neser, who is seemingly next in line and could be a great day-night Brisbane option, but after that with choices uncertain. Sean Abbott was in the original team, though he’s now also injured and has not yet played a Test. Richardson has just had his injury-prone arm put back on, and this level is not the place for gradually starting one’s work. After them lies the true uncertainty, and amid it all a chance for the visiting team. You can hear that train approaching, coming around the corner, and the English team hasn't seen the sunshine since they don’t know when.