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The historic Ashes series may offer one cause for celebration, but this series will also see the Australian team celebrate 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 Test in Perth. Beau Webster turns 32 just ahead of the Brisbane match, 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 over.

Older Squad Interest Builds

For two or three years there has been mounting fascination with the average age of this side and especially the bowling attack. It is unusual to have nearly all player in a Test side being above thirty, except for novelty-sized mascot Cameron Green and custody-weekend visitor Sam Konstas. But it wasn't necessarily true that older age was a disadvantage: a Test team boasting a four-bowler lineup with over 1,500 wickets between them is scarcely a weakness, and it stands to reason that all of those bowlers are well into their professional lives.

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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 well into their thirties. Emerging pacemen have floated into squads – Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson – before vanishing for years with injuries, meaning there has been no obvious replacement plan.

Transition Forced by Setbacks

So far, that hasn't been an issue, as the Big Four plus Boland have continued backing up. Any side knows that having a batch of same-generation players might mean a group of simultaneous retirements, but so far transition has remained theoretical: a process 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 Aussie team in the space of a few weeks. The back injury to Pat Cummins was taken in stride: he would probably only miss the first Test, was the Cricket Australia view, and as the first-change bowler behind Starc and Hazlewood, he could easily be covered for by Boland.

But now that Hazlewood has gone down with a hamstring strain, the team balance experiences a much more significant shift with two key bowlers absent rather than a single one. Cummins and Hazlewood as the two tight-line right-armers give the stability and precision that enables Starc’s left-arm speed and movement to be used more as a attacking option. Missing both of them means a fundamental shift in the composition of the team. Boland handling 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.

Debutant Confronts Pressure

Behind him will come Brendan Doggett, who at thirty-one years of age himself won’t be an intimidated youngster, but he might become an overawed 31-year-old. A packed stadium, partly English, for the first Test of a deliriously anticipated Ashes series will not make for an easy debut, no matter how many media stories describe him as laid-back. He could be wheeled onto the ground on a banana lounge and still be anxious.

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It's uncertain, it might all go swimmingly for this revamped bowling lineup. It might not work out. What is striking is how rapidly Australia have moved from the surety of Starc, Lyon, Cummins, Hazlewood to the uncertainty of Starc, Lyon, and others. It's unclear what new injuries the opening match may cause. It's unknown whether Cummins will be good to go for the Brisbane Test, and good to back up after that match, given how complicated stress fractures can be. It's uncertain how long Hazlewood might be sidelined, with a track record of going down early in series and a history of minor injuries becoming extended absences.

Outlook Unclear

The latter part of the contest may witness the primary four bowlers back together and all performing well. Or it might experience transition beginning much sooner than the stretch goal of 2027 in England. Not through Neser, who is seemingly next in line and could be a excellent day-night Brisbane option, but after that with options unclear. Sean Abbott was in the original team, though he’s now also injured and has not yet played a Test match. Richardson has just had his crash-test-dummy arm repaired, and this format is no place for gradually starting one’s work. After them lies the true uncertainty, and amid it all opportunity for the visiting team. You can sense that train approaching, coming around the corner, and England ain’t seen the sunshine since they don’t know when.