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The Ashes could provide a reason to cheer, but this contest will also see the Australian team host more birthday parties than Timezone in the 90s. New boy Jake Weatherald had his thirty-first birthday a day prior to the squad was named. Nathan Lyon celebrates 38 the day preceding the Perth Test. Beau Webster reaches 32 just before 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 before January is over.

Older Team Interest Builds

For a couple of years there has been growing curiosity with the average age of this team and particularly the bowling attack. It is rare to have nearly all player near a Test side being over 30, except for novelty-sized mascot Cameron Green and occasional visitor Sam Konstas. But it didn’t logically follow that greater age was a problem: a Test team boasting a four-man attack with 1,568 wickets between them is hardly a disadvantage, and it makes sense that all of those bowlers are well into their professional lives.

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Perhaps what really highlighted the talking point is that the backup bowlers over that period, Scott Boland and Michael Neser, are also well into their thirties. Younger bowlers have briefly joined teams – Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson – before vanishing for years with injury, meaning there has been no clear line of succession.

Change Imposed by Injuries

So far, that hasn't been an issue, as the Big Four plus Boland have kept on 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 certainly be arriving the bend when she comes, but one that hadn’t yet become visible.

Now, abruptly, transition is upon them, imposed on this Aussie team in the span of a few weeks. The spinal issue to Pat Cummins was taken in stride: he would likely only sit out the first Test, was the Cricket Australia assessment, and as the first-change bowler behind Starc and Hazlewood, he could comfortably be covered for by Boland.

But now that Hazlewood has gone down with a hamstring strain, the team balance experiences a far greater shift with two players absent rather than a single one. Cummins and Hazlewood as the two accurate right-arm bowlers give the balance and control that allows Starc’s left-arm speed and movement to be used more as a weapon of attack. Missing both of them means a fundamental shift in the composition of the side. Boland taking the new ball is not unusual in his domestic career, but he has been so effective in Tests entering the attack after seven or eight overs of initial onslaught. Now he’ll likely have to be the opening bowler.

Newcomer 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, partly English, for the opening Test of a deliriously anticipated Ashes series will not make for an easy debut, no matter how many newspaper profiles portray 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 rapidly 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. Who knows whether Cummins will be good to go for the Brisbane Test, and good to back up after Brisbane, given how tricky stress fractures can be. It's uncertain how long Hazlewood might be sidelined, with a history of getting injured early in tournaments and a pattern of initially small injuries becoming longer layoffs.

Future Unclear

The back half of the contest may witness the main four bowlers back together and all performing well. Or it might see transition beginning much earlier than the stretch goal of 2027 in the UK. Not through Neser, who is seemingly the next option and could be a great day-night Brisbane choice, but beyond that with options uncertain. Sean Abbott was in the original team, though he’s now also hurt and has not yet played a Test match. Richardson has just had his crash-test-dummy arm repaired, and this format is not the place for gradually starting one’s work. Beyond them lies the real unknown, and amid it all a chance for the visiting team. You can sense that change a-coming, rolling round the bend, and the English team hasn't seen the success since they can't recall when.