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The historic Ashes series may offer a reason to cheer, but this contest will also see the Aussie side celebrate more birthday parties than Timezone in the nineties. Recent addition Jake Weatherald celebrated his thirty-first birthday a day prior to the squad was named. Nathan Lyon celebrates 38 the day preceding the Perth Test. Beau Webster turns 32 just before Brisbane, Usman Khawaja will be 39 on day two in Adelaide, Josh Hazlewood turns 35 on the final day in Sydney, and Mitchell Starc will be 36 by the time January is over.

Ageing Squad Fascination Grows

For a couple of years there has been mounting curiosity with the average age of this side and particularly the bowling attack. It is unusual to have almost every player in a Test team being above thirty, aside from young mascot Cameron Green and occasional visitor Sam Konstas. But it didn’t logically follow that greater age was a disadvantage: a Test team boasting a four-man attack with over 1,500 wickets between them is hardly a weakness, and it stands to reason that all of those bowlers are deep into their professional lives.

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Perhaps what really highlighted the talking point is that the reserve players over that period, Scott Boland and Michael Neser, are also well into their 30s. Emerging pacemen have briefly joined teams – Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson – before vanishing 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 Big Four plus Boland have continued backing up. Any side knows that having a group of similarly-aged players might mean a group of similarly-timed departures, but so far change has remained hypothetical: a process that would certainly be arriving the mountain when she comes, but one that hadn’t yet steamed into view.

Now, suddenly, change is upon them, imposed on this Aussie team in the space of a short period. The spinal issue to Pat Cummins was taken in stride: he would probably only miss the opening match, was the Cricket Australia view, and as the first bowling change behind Starc and Hazlewood, he could easily be replaced by Boland.

But now that Hazlewood has gone down with a hamstring strain, the team balance undergoes a far greater change with two key bowlers absent rather than a single one. Cummins and Hazlewood as the two accurate right-arm bowlers give the balance and control that allows Starc’s left-arm pace and swing to be used more as a weapon of attack. Missing both of them means a fundamental shift in the composition of the side. Boland taking the new ball is not unusual in his first-class career, but he has been so effective in Tests entering the attack after seven to eight overs of early pressure. Now he’ll probably 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 overawed 31-year-old. A full stadium crowd, partly English, for the first Test of a deliriously anticipated Ashes series will not make for an simple first match, no matter how many newspaper profiles describe him as relaxed. He could be wheeled onto the field on a banana lounge and still be nervous.

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It's uncertain, it might all go swimmingly for this new attack. It might not. What is notable is how quickly Australia have moved from the certainty of Starc, Lyon, Cummins, Hazlewood to the unknown of Starc, Lyon, mumble mumble. Who knows what new injuries the opening match may bring. It's unknown whether Cummins will be good to go for the Brisbane Test, and good to back up after Brisbane, 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 initially small injuries becoming longer layoffs.

Future Uncertain

The latter part of the contest may witness the main four bowlers back together and all going well. Or it might experience transition setting in much earlier than the long-term aim of 2027 in England. Not through Neser, who is apparently the next option and could be a great day-night Brisbane choice, but after that with choices unclear. Sean Abbott was in the original team, though he’s now also injured and has never played a Test match. Richardson has just had his injury-prone arm repaired, and this format is no place for gradually starting one’s work. After them lies the real unknown, and throughout it a chance for the visiting team. You can hear that train a-coming, rolling round the corner, and the English team hasn't seen the success since they can't recall when.