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The Ashes may offer one cause for celebration, but this series will also see the Aussie side host a greater number of birthdays than Timezone in the 90s. Recent addition Jake Weatherald celebrated his 31st a day prior to the squad was announced. Nathan Lyon turns 38 the day preceding the Perth Test. Beau Webster reaches 32 just ahead of 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 by the time January is out.

Ageing Team Fascination Grows

For two or three years there has been growing curiosity with the average age of this side and particularly the bowling unit. It is rare to have nearly all player in a Test side being above thirty, aside from novelty-sized mascot Cameron Green and occasional visitor Sam Konstas. But it wasn't necessarily true that greater age was a problem: a Test team featuring 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 careers.

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Perhaps what really highlighted the talking point is that the reserve players over that time, Scott Boland and Michael Neser, are also well into their 30s. 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.

Transition Imposed by Injuries

So far, that hasn't been an issue, as the Big Four plus Boland have kept on performing. Any side knows that having a group of similarly-aged players might mean a group of simultaneous retirements, but so far change has remained theoretical: a process that would certainly be arriving the mountain when she comes, but one that hadn’t yet steamed into view.

Now, abruptly, change is here, imposed on this Aussie team in the span of a short period. The back injury to Pat Cummins was greeted with equanimity: he would likely only miss the first Test, was the Cricket Australia view, and as the first bowling change behind Starc and Hazlewood, he could comfortably be covered for by Boland.

But now that Hazlewood has gone down with a hamstring strain, the balance undergoes a much more significant change with two players missing rather than a single one. Cummins and Hazlewood as the two accurate right-arm bowlers give the stability and precision that allows Starc’s left-arm speed and movement to be used more as a weapon of attack. Losing both of them means a fundamental shift in the composition of the side. Boland handling the new ball is not unusual in his domestic career, but he has been so effective in Test matches coming on after seven to eight overs of early pressure. Now he’ll likely have to be the opening bowler.

Newcomer Confronts Pressure

Behind him will come Brendan Doggett, who at thirty-one years of age 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 simple first match, no matter how many media stories describe him as relaxed. He could be wheeled onto the ground on a banana lounge and still be anxious.

Register to The Spin

It's uncertain, it might all go smoothly for this new attack. It might not. What is striking is how quickly Australia have moved from the certainty of Starc, Lyon, Cummins, Hazlewood to the uncertainty of Starc, Lyon, and others. Who knows what new injuries the opening match may cause. Who knows whether Cummins will be fit for the Brisbane Test, and able to continue after that match, given how tricky stress injuries can be. Who knows how long Hazlewood might be sidelined, with a track record of going down early in tournaments and a history of initially small injuries becoming longer layoffs.

Future Unclear

The back half of the contest may witness the primary four bowlers reunited and all performing well. Or it might see transition beginning much earlier than the long-term aim of 2027 in the UK. Not through Neser, who is seemingly next in line and could be a excellent day-night Brisbane choice, 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 crash-test-dummy arm put back on, 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 hear that train approaching, coming around the bend, and the English team ain’t seen the success since they don’t know when.