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The Ashes could provide a reason to cheer, but this series will also witness the Aussie side host more birthday parties than Timezone in the 90s. New boy Jake Weatherald had his 31st a day before the team was named. Nathan Lyon celebrates 38 the day before the Perth Test. Beau Webster turns 32 just ahead of 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 over.

Older Squad Interest Builds

For a couple of years there has been growing curiosity with the average age of this team and particularly the bowling unit. It is unusual to have nearly all player in a Test side being above thirty, aside from novelty-sized mascot Cameron Green and custody-weekend visitor Sam Konstas. But it didn’t logically follow that greater age was a disadvantage: a Test squad boasting a four-man attack with 1,568 wickets between them is hardly a disadvantage, and it makes sense that all of those bowlers are deep into their professional lives.

I've never felt this sure at the start of an away Ashes series | a former player

Perhaps what most amplified 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 floated into squads – Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson – before vanishing for years with injury, meaning there has been no obvious replacement plan.

Change Forced by Setbacks

So far, that hasn’t mattered, as the core four plus Boland have kept on backing up. Any side knows that having a group of same-generation players might mean a batch of simultaneous departures, but so far change has remained hypothetical: a process that would indeed be coming round the bend when she comes, but one that hadn’t yet steamed into view.

Now, abruptly, change is upon them, imposed on this Australian squad in the space of a short period. The spinal issue to Pat Cummins was taken in stride: he would probably only miss the first Test, was the team management assessment, and as the first-change bowler behind Starc and Hazlewood, he could comfortably be covered for by Boland.

But now that Hazlewood has been sidelined with a hamstring injury, the team balance experiences a much more significant change with two key bowlers absent rather than one. Cummins and Hazlewood as the two accurate right-arm bowlers 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 major adjustment in the balance of the team. Boland taking the new ball is not unusual in his first-class career, but he has been so effective in Test matches coming on after seven or eight overs of early pressure. Now he’ll likely have to be the man up front.

Newcomer Faces Expectations

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 describe him as laid-back. He could be brought onto the field on a banana lounge and still be anxious.

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It's uncertain, it might all go swimmingly for this new attack. It might not. What is striking is how rapidly Australia have moved 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 cause. Who knows whether Cummins will be good to go for Brisbane, and able to continue after Brisbane, given how complicated stress injuries can be. It's uncertain how long Hazlewood might be sidelined, with a history of going down early in tournaments and a history of minor injuries turning into longer layoffs.

Outlook Unclear

The latter part of the contest may witness the primary four bowlers reunited and all going well. Or it might see transition beginning much sooner than the stretch goal of 2027 in England. Not through Neser, who is apparently next in line and could be a excellent pink-ball Brisbane choice, but beyond that with choices unclear. 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 crash-test-dummy arm put back on, and this level is not the place for easing into one’s work. After them lies the real unknown, and throughout it opportunity for the opposing side. You can hear that train approaching, coming around the corner, and England ain’t seen the sunshine since they can't recall when.