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The Ashes may offer a reason to cheer, but this contest will also see the Aussie side celebrate more birthday parties than Timezone in the nineties. New boy Jake Weatherald had his thirty-first birthday a day before the squad was announced. Nathan Lyon celebrates 38 the day preceding the Test in Perth. Beau Webster reaches 32 just before Brisbane, 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 out.

Older Squad Interest Grows

For a couple of years there has been mounting curiosity with the age of this team and particularly the bowling unit. It is rare to have nearly all player near a Test side being over 30, 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 team featuring a four-man attack with over 1,500 wickets between them is hardly a disadvantage, and it stands to reason that all of those bowlers are well into their professional lives.

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

Transition Imposed by Setbacks

So far, that hasn’t mattered, as the Big Four plus Boland have kept on performing. Any team knows that having a batch of similarly-aged players might mean a group of simultaneous departures, but so far transition has remained theoretical: a process that would indeed be coming round the mountain when she comes, but one that hadn’t yet steamed into view.

Now, suddenly, change is upon them, 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 first Test, was the team management view, and as the first-change bowler behind Starc and Hazlewood, he could comfortably be replaced by Boland.

But now that Hazlewood has gone down with a hamstring strain, the team balance experiences a far greater change with two key bowlers missing rather than 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 attacking option. Losing both of them means a major adjustment in the balance of the side. Boland handling the new ball is not unusual in his domestic career, but he has been so successful in Tests coming on after seven to eight overs of initial onslaught. Now he’ll probably 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 first Test of a deliriously anticipated Ashes series will not make for an easy debut, no matter how many media stories portray him as relaxed. He could be brought 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 revamped bowling lineup. It might not. What is notable is how rapidly Australia have transitioned from the certainty 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 the Brisbane Test, and able to continue after Brisbane, given how complicated stress fractures can be. Who knows how long Hazlewood might be sidelined, with a track record of getting injured early in series and a history of minor injuries becoming extended absences.

Future Uncertain

The latter part of the series may see the primary four bowlers back together and all performing well. Or it might experience transition beginning much earlier than the long-term aim of 2027 in England. Not through Neser, who is seemingly the next option and could be a excellent pink-ball Brisbane choice, but beyond that with choices uncertain. Sean Abbott was in the initial squad, though he’s now also hurt and has never played a Test match. Richardson has just had his injury-prone arm put back on, and this level is no place for easing into one’s work. Beyond them lies the real unknown, and amid it all a chance for the visiting team. You can hear that train a-coming, coming around the corner, and England hasn't seen the success since they can't recall when.