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The historic Ashes series could provide a reason to cheer, but this series will also witness the Aussie side host more birthday parties than Timezone in the 90s. Recent addition Jake Weatherald had his thirty-first birthday a day before the team was announced. Nathan Lyon turns 38 the day preceding the Perth Test. Beau Webster reaches 32 just before the Brisbane match, 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 Grows

For a couple of years there has been growing curiosity with the average age of this side and particularly the bowling attack. It is unusual to have nearly all player in a Test team being above thirty, except for novelty-sized mascot Cameron Green and custody-weekend visitor Sam Konstas. But it wasn't necessarily true that older age was a problem: a Test team featuring a four-man attack with 1,568 wickets between them is scarcely a weakness, and it stands to reason that all of those bowlers are deep into their careers.

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 time, Scott Boland and Michael Neser, are also well into their thirties. Younger bowlers have floated into squads – Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson – before vanishing for years with injury, meaning there has been no obvious replacement plan.

Change Imposed by Setbacks

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

Now, suddenly, change is here, imposed on this Australian squad in the space of a few weeks. The back injury to Pat Cummins was taken in stride: he would likely only miss the first Test, was the Cricket Australia assessment, and as the first-change bowler behind Starc and Hazlewood, he could comfortably be covered for by Boland.

But now that Hazlewood has gone down with a hamstring strain, the team balance experiences a much more significant change with two players 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 speed and movement to be used more as a attacking option. Losing both of them means a fundamental shift in the balance of the team. 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 initial onslaught. Now he’ll likely have to be the opening bowler.

Debutant Faces Expectations

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 full stadium crowd, partly 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 banana lounge and still be nervous.

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Who knows, it might all go swimmingly for this revamped bowling lineup. It might not work out. What is striking is how rapidly Australia have moved from the certainty of Starc, Lyon, Cummins, Hazlewood to the uncertainty of Starc, Lyon, mumble mumble. It's unclear what new injuries the opening match may bring. It's unknown whether Cummins will be fit for Brisbane, and good to back up after that match, given how complicated stress injuries can be. Who knows how long Hazlewood might be sidelined, with a track record of going down early in tournaments and a pattern of initially small injuries turning into longer layoffs.

Future Uncertain

The latter part of the series may witness the primary four bowlers back together and all performing well. Or it might see transition beginning much earlier than the stretch goal of 2027 in England. Not through Neser, who is seemingly next in line and could be a excellent pink-ball Brisbane option, but after that with choices uncertain. Sean Abbott was in the initial squad, though he’s now also injured and has not yet played a Test. Richardson has just had his injury-prone arm repaired, and this level is not the place for gradually starting one’s work. Beyond them lies the true uncertainty, and throughout it opportunity for the opposing side. You can sense that change a-coming, coming around the corner, and England ain’t seen the sunshine since they can't recall when.