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The Ashes may offer one cause for celebration, but this contest will also witness the Australian team celebrate a greater number of birthdays than an arcade in the 90s. New boy Jake Weatherald had his 31st a day prior to the squad was named. Nathan Lyon turns 38 the day before the Test in Perth. Beau Webster reaches 32 just ahead of the Brisbane match, Usman Khawaja will be 39 on the second day in Adelaide, Josh Hazlewood turns 35 on the final 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 curiosity with the age of this side and particularly the bowling unit. It is unusual to have nearly all player near a Test team being over 30, aside from novelty-sized mascot Cameron Green and occasional visitor Sam Konstas. But it didn’t logically follow that older age was a problem: a Test team boasting a four-bowler lineup with 1,568 wickets between them is hardly a weakness, and it stands to reason that all of those bowlers are deep into their professional lives.

I've never felt this sure at the beginning of an away Ashes series | a former player

Perhaps what really highlighted the discussion is that the backup bowlers over that period, Scott Boland and Michael Neser, are also well into their 30s. Younger bowlers have floated into teams – Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson – before disappearing for years with injury, meaning there has been no clear line of succession.

Change Imposed by Injuries

So far, that hasn’t mattered, as the core four plus Boland have kept on performing. Any side knows that having a batch of similarly-aged players might mean a group of similarly-timed retirements, but so far change has remained theoretical: a process that would indeed be coming round the bend when she comes, but one that hadn’t yet become visible.

Now, suddenly, 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 probably 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 been sidelined with a hamstring strain, the team balance experiences a far greater change with two players missing rather than a single 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 attacking option. Losing both of them means a major adjustment in the balance of the team. Boland taking the new ball is nothing new in his first-class career, but he has been so successful in Test matches entering the attack after seven or eight overs of early pressure. Now he’ll probably have to be the opening bowler.

Newcomer Faces Expectations

Behind him will come Brendan Doggett, who at 31 years old himself isn't an intimidated youngster, but he might become an nervous thirty-one-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 portray him as laid-back. He could be wheeled onto the ground on a sun lounger and still be nervous.

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It's uncertain, it might all go smoothly for this revamped bowling lineup. It might not. What is notable is how rapidly Australia have moved from the surety of Starc, Lyon, Cummins, Hazlewood to the unknown of Starc, Lyon, mumble mumble. It's unclear what new injuries the opening match may cause. Who knows whether Cummins will be good to go for the Brisbane Test, and able to continue after Brisbane, given how tricky stress injuries can be. It's uncertain how long Hazlewood might be sidelined, with a history of getting injured early in tournaments and a history of initially small injuries becoming extended absences.

Future Uncertain

The latter part of the contest may witness the primary four bowlers reunited and all going well. Or it might experience transition beginning much sooner than the stretch goal of 2027 in the UK. Not through Neser, who is seemingly next in line and could be a excellent day-night Brisbane option, but beyond that with options unclear. Sean Abbott was in the original team, though he’s now also hurt and has never played a Test match. Richardson has just had his injury-prone arm repaired, and this level is no place for gradually starting one’s work. Beyond them lies the true uncertainty, and throughout it a chance for the visiting team. You can sense that change a-coming, coming around the bend, and England ain’t seen the success since they don’t know when.