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The historic Ashes series could provide a reason to cheer, but this contest will also witness the Australian team host a greater number of birthdays than an arcade in the 90s. Recent addition Jake Weatherald had his thirty-first birthday a day prior to the squad was announced. Nathan Lyon turns 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 turns 35 on the final day in Sydney, and Mitchell Starc will be 36 before January is over.

Older Team Interest Builds

For a couple of years there has been mounting curiosity with the average age of this team and especially the bowling attack. It is rare to have nearly all player in a Test team being above thirty, except for young mascot Cameron Green and occasional visitor Sam Konstas. But it didn’t logically follow that greater age was a disadvantage: a Test squad featuring 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 careers.

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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. Emerging pacemen have floated into teams – Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson – before vanishing 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 backing up. Any team knows that having a batch of similarly-aged players might mean a group of similarly-timed retirements, but so far change has remained hypothetical: a process that would indeed be arriving the mountain when she comes, but one that hadn’t yet become visible.

Now, abruptly, change is here, imposed on this Australian squad in the span of a few weeks. The back injury to Pat Cummins was greeted with equanimity: he would likely only sit out the first Test, was the team management assessment, and as the first-change bowler behind Starc and Hazlewood, he could easily be covered for by Boland.

But now that Hazlewood has gone down with a hamstring injury, the balance undergoes a far greater change with two key bowlers absent rather than a single one. Cummins and Hazlewood as the two tight-line right-armers give the stability and precision that allows Starc’s left-arm pace and swing to be used more as a weapon of attack. Losing both of them means a fundamental shift in the composition of the side. Boland taking the new ball is nothing new in his domestic career, but he has been so successful in Test matches entering the attack after seven or eight overs of early pressure. Now he’ll likely have to be the man up front.

Debutant Faces 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 eagerly awaited Ashes series will not make for an easy debut, no matter how many newspaper profiles portray him as relaxed. He could be wheeled onto the ground on a sun lounger and still be nervous.

Sign up to The Spin

It's uncertain, it might all go swimmingly for this revamped bowling lineup. It might not. What is striking is how quickly Australia have transitioned from the surety of Starc, Lyon, Cummins, Hazlewood to the unknown of Starc, Lyon, and others. Who knows what further injuries the opening match may bring. Who knows whether Cummins will be fit for Brisbane, and able to continue after that match, given how complicated stress fractures can be. Who knows how long Hazlewood might be out, with a history of going down early in tournaments and a history of minor injuries becoming extended absences.

Future Uncertain

The back half of the series may see the main four bowlers reunited and all performing well. Or it might see transition setting in much earlier than the long-term aim of 2027 in the UK. Not through Neser, who is apparently next in line and could be a excellent pink-ball Brisbane option, but beyond that with options uncertain. Sean Abbott was in the original team, though he’s now also hurt and has not yet played a Test. Richardson has just had his crash-test-dummy arm put back on, and this level is not the place for gradually starting one’s work. After them lies the true uncertainty, and throughout it a chance for the visiting team. You can sense that change approaching, rolling round the corner, and the English team hasn't seen the sunshine since they can't recall when.