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The Ashes could provide one cause for celebration, but this series will also witness the Aussie side host more birthday parties than Timezone in the 90s. New boy Jake Weatherald celebrated his 31st a day before the squad was named. Nathan Lyon turns 38 the day before the Perth Test. Beau Webster turns 32 just before the Brisbane match, Usman Khawaja will be 39 on the second day in Adelaide, Josh Hazlewood becomes 35 on the final day in Sydney, and Mitchell Starc will be 36 before January is over.

Ageing Team Fascination Grows

For a couple of years there has been growing curiosity with the average age of this team and especially the bowling attack. It is unusual 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 squad featuring a four-bowler lineup with over 1,500 wickets between them is hardly a weakness, 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 time, Scott Boland and Michael Neser, are also deep into their thirties. Younger bowlers have floated into squads – Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson – before vanishing for years with injury, meaning there has been no obvious replacement plan.

Transition Forced by Injuries

So far, that hasn’t mattered, as the Big Four plus Boland have continued performing. Any side knows that having a batch of similarly-aged players might mean a batch of similarly-timed retirements, but so far change has remained theoretical: a train that would indeed be coming round the bend when she comes, but one that hadn’t yet steamed into view.

Now, suddenly, transition is upon them, imposed on this Aussie team in the space of a short period. The spinal issue to Pat Cummins was taken in stride: he would probably only sit out the first Test, was the Cricket Australia view, and as the first-change bowler behind Starc and Hazlewood, he could easily be replaced by Boland.

But now that Hazlewood has been sidelined with a hamstring strain, the team balance experiences a much more significant change with two players absent rather than a single one. Cummins and Hazlewood as the two tight-line right-armers 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 composition of the side. Boland handling the new ball is not unusual in his first-class career, but he has been so effective in Tests coming on after seven or eight overs of early pressure. Now he’ll likely have to be the opening bowler.

Newcomer Confronts Expectations

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, 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 media stories describe him as relaxed. He could be brought onto the field on a banana lounge and still be anxious.

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It's uncertain, it might all go smoothly for this revamped bowling lineup. It might not. What is striking is how quickly Australia have transitioned from the certainty of Starc, Lyon, Cummins, Hazlewood to the unknown of Starc, Lyon, and others. It's unclear what further injuries the first Test may bring. Who knows whether Cummins will be fit for Brisbane, and good to back up after that match, given how complicated stress injuries can be. It's uncertain how long Hazlewood might be sidelined, with a history of going down early in tournaments and a pattern of minor injuries turning into longer layoffs.

Outlook Uncertain

The back half of the series may witness the primary four bowlers reunited and all going well. Or it might see transition beginning much earlier than the long-term aim of 2027 in the UK. Not through Neser, who is apparently the next option and could be a great day-night Brisbane option, but after that with options unclear. Sean Abbott was in the initial squad, though he’s now also injured and has not yet played a Test match. Richardson has just had his injury-prone arm repaired, and this format is no place for easing into one’s work. After them lies the real unknown, and throughout it opportunity for the opposing side. You can sense that change a-coming, rolling round the bend, and England ain’t seen the sunshine since they don’t know when.