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The historic Ashes series could provide one cause for celebration, but this series will also see the Aussie side host a greater number of birthdays than an arcade in the nineties. Recent addition Jake Weatherald celebrated his thirty-first birthday a day prior to the team was named. Nathan Lyon celebrates 38 the day before the Perth Test. Beau Webster reaches 32 just ahead of the Brisbane match, Usman Khawaja will be 39 on the second day in Adelaide, Josh Hazlewood becomes 35 on the fifth day in Sydney, and Mitchell Starc will be 36 by the time January is out.

Older Squad Fascination Builds

For two or three years there has been mounting curiosity with the age of this side and particularly the bowling attack. It is unusual to have almost every player in a Test side being above thirty, aside from young mascot Cameron Green and occasional visitor Sam Konstas. But it didn’t logically follow that greater age was a problem: a Test squad boasting a four-bowler lineup with 1,568 wickets between them is hardly a weakness, and it makes sense that all of those bowlers are deep into their careers.

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Perhaps what really highlighted the discussion is that the reserve players over that time, Scott Boland and Michael Neser, are also deep into their thirties. Younger bowlers have briefly joined squads – Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson – before vanishing for years with injury, meaning there has been no obvious replacement plan.

Change Imposed by Setbacks

So far, that hasn’t mattered, as the Big Four plus Boland have continued backing up. Any team knows that having a batch of similarly-aged players might mean a batch of simultaneous departures, but so far change has remained hypothetical: a train that would certainly be coming round the bend when she comes, but one that hadn’t yet steamed into view.

Now, suddenly, transition is here, forced upon this Australian squad in the span of a few weeks. The back injury to Pat Cummins was taken in stride: he would probably only miss the opening match, was the Cricket Australia assessment, and as the first bowling change behind Starc and Hazlewood, he could easily be replaced by Boland.

But now that Hazlewood has been sidelined with a hamstring injury, the balance undergoes a much more significant shift with two key bowlers absent rather than one. Cummins and Hazlewood as the two accurate right-arm bowlers give the balance and control that enables 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 balance of the team. Boland handling the new ball is nothing new in his domestic 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 opening bowler.

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 overawed 31-year-old. A full stadium crowd, half of it 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 nervous.

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Who knows, it might all go swimmingly for this revamped bowling lineup. It might not. What is notable is how rapidly Australia have moved from the certainty of Starc, Lyon, Cummins, Hazlewood to the unknown of Starc, Lyon, and others. Who knows what further injuries the first Test may bring. Who knows whether Cummins will be fit 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 history of getting injured early in tournaments and a pattern of initially small injuries becoming extended absences.

Outlook Uncertain

The latter part of the contest may see the main four bowlers reunited and all going well. Or it might see transition setting in 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 choice, but beyond that with choices unclear. Sean Abbott was in the original team, though he’s now also injured and has never played a Test. Richardson has just had his injury-prone arm put back on, and this format is not the place for gradually starting one’s work. After them lies the real unknown, and throughout it opportunity for the visiting team. You can sense that train a-coming, rolling round the bend, and England hasn't seen the success since they can't recall when.