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The historic Ashes series may offer one cause for celebration, but this series will also see the Australian team celebrate a greater number of birthdays than Timezone in the 90s. Recent addition Jake Weatherald celebrated his 31st a day prior to the squad was announced. Nathan Lyon celebrates 38 the day before the Perth Test. Beau Webster reaches 32 just ahead of Brisbane, Usman Khawaja will be 39 on the second day in Adelaide, Josh Hazlewood turns 35 on the fifth day in Sydney, and Mitchell Starc will be 36 by the time January is over.

Older Squad Interest Builds

For two or three years there has been growing fascination with the age of this side and especially the bowling unit. It is unusual to have almost every 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 disadvantage: a Test squad boasting a four-bowler lineup with 1,568 wickets between them is hardly a disadvantage, 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 reserve players over that time, Scott Boland and Michael Neser, are also well into their thirties. Younger bowlers have briefly joined squads – Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson – before disappearing for years with injury, meaning there has been no obvious replacement plan.

Change Imposed by Setbacks

So far, that hasn’t mattered, as the core four plus Boland have continued performing. Any side knows that having a group of same-generation players might mean a batch of similarly-timed departures, but so far transition has remained hypothetical: a process that would certainly be arriving the bend when she comes, but one that hadn’t yet steamed into view.

Now, suddenly, change is here, imposed on this Aussie team in the space of a few weeks. The spinal issue to Pat Cummins was taken in stride: he would probably only miss the opening match, was the team management assessment, and as the first bowling change behind Starc and Hazlewood, he could comfortably be replaced by Boland.

But now that Hazlewood has been sidelined with a hamstring strain, the balance experiences a much more significant change with two players missing rather than a single one. Cummins and Hazlewood as the two tight-line right-armers give the balance and control that enables 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 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 early pressure. Now he’ll probably have to be the man up front.

Newcomer Faces Pressure

Behind him will come Brendan Doggett, who at 31 years old himself won’t be an overawed youth, but he might become an nervous thirty-one-year-old. A full stadium crowd, partly English, for the first Test of a eagerly awaited Ashes series will not make for an simple first match, no matter how many media stories portray him as relaxed. He could be brought onto the field on a banana lounge and still be nervous.

Register to The Spin

Who knows, it might all go swimmingly for this new attack. 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, mumble mumble. It's unclear what further injuries the first Test may bring. It's unknown whether Cummins will be good to go for Brisbane, and good to back up after that match, given how tricky stress fractures can be. It's uncertain how long Hazlewood might be out, with a history of going down early in series and a history of minor injuries turning into longer layoffs.

Outlook Uncertain

The back half of the series may witness the primary four bowlers back together and all going well. Or it might see transition setting in much sooner than the stretch goal of 2027 in England. Not through Neser, who is seemingly the next option and could be a great day-night Brisbane option, but after that with options uncertain. Sean Abbott was in the initial squad, though he’s now also injured and has not yet played a Test match. Richardson has just had his crash-test-dummy arm put back on, and this format is no place for easing into one’s work. After them lies the real unknown, and amid it all a chance for the opposing side. You can hear that change approaching, coming around the bend, and England ain’t seen the sunshine since they can't recall when.