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The Ashes could provide a reason to cheer, but this series will also witness the Australian team host more birthday parties than an arcade in the nineties. Recent addition Jake Weatherald celebrated his 31st a day before the team was announced. Nathan Lyon celebrates 38 the day preceding the Perth Test. Beau Webster reaches 32 just ahead of Brisbane, 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.

Ageing Team Interest Builds

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

I've never felt this sure at the start of an Ashes tour | a former player

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

Transition Imposed by Injuries

So far, that hasn't been an issue, as the core four plus Boland have continued performing. Any team knows that having a group of same-generation players might mean a group of similarly-timed retirements, but so far change has remained hypothetical: a train that would indeed be arriving the mountain when she comes, but one that had not become visible.

Now, abruptly, change is here, forced upon this Australian squad in the space of a short period. The spinal issue to Pat Cummins was taken in stride: he would likely only miss the opening match, was the Cricket Australia assessment, and as the first-change bowler behind Starc and Hazlewood, he could easily be replaced by Boland.

But now that Hazlewood has gone down with a hamstring injury, the balance experiences a much more significant change with two key bowlers missing rather than a single one. Cummins and Hazlewood as the two accurate right-arm bowlers give the stability and precision that enables Starc’s left-arm pace and swing to be used more as a attacking option. 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 or eight overs of initial onslaught. Now he’ll probably have to be the opening bowler.

Debutant Confronts Pressure

Behind him will come Brendan Doggett, who at 31 years old himself isn't an overawed youth, 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 newspaper profiles describe him as relaxed. He could be brought onto the field on a sun lounger and still be anxious.

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Who knows, it might all go swimmingly for this new attack. It might not work out. What is notable is how rapidly Australia have moved from the surety of Starc, Lyon, Cummins, Hazlewood to the uncertainty of Starc, Lyon, and others. Who knows what further injuries the first Test may bring. Who knows whether Cummins will be good to go for Brisbane, and good to back up 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 pattern of minor injuries becoming longer layoffs.

Future Uncertain

The latter part of the contest may witness the primary four bowlers reunited and all performing well. Or it might experience 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 pink-ball Brisbane choice, but after that with options uncertain. Sean Abbott was in the initial squad, though he’s now also hurt and has not yet played a Test. Richardson has just had his crash-test-dummy arm repaired, and this format is not the place for gradually starting one’s work. After them lies the real unknown, and amid it all 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 can't recall when.