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The Ashes may offer a reason to cheer, but this series will also see the Aussie side celebrate a greater number of birthdays than Timezone in the nineties. New boy Jake Weatherald had his thirty-first birthday a day prior to the team was named. Nathan Lyon celebrates 38 the day before the Perth Test. Beau Webster turns 32 just ahead of the Brisbane match, Usman Khawaja will be 39 on day two in Adelaide, Josh Hazlewood becomes 35 on the fifth day in Sydney, and Mitchell Starc will be 36 before January is out.

Older Team Fascination Grows

For a couple of years there has been growing fascination with the age of this team and especially the bowling unit. It is rare to have nearly all player near a Test team being over 30, 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 featuring a four-bowler lineup with 1,568 wickets between them is scarcely 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 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 deep into their 30s. Emerging pacemen have floated into teams – Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson – before disappearing for years with injuries, meaning there has been no obvious replacement plan.

Transition Imposed by Injuries

So far, that hasn’t mattered, as the Big Four plus Boland have continued performing. Any side knows that having a batch of similarly-aged players might mean a batch of similarly-timed retirements, but so far transition 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, suddenly, transition is here, imposed on this Australian squad in the space of a few weeks. The spinal issue to Pat Cummins was taken in stride: he would likely only sit out the first Test, was the Cricket Australia view, 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 balance undergoes a far greater shift with two key bowlers missing rather than a single one. Cummins and Hazlewood as the two accurate right-arm bowlers give the balance and control that enables Starc’s left-arm speed and movement to be used more as a attacking option. Losing both of them means a major adjustment in the composition of the side. Boland taking the new ball is nothing new 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 man up front.

Debutant Faces Pressure

Behind him will come Brendan Doggett, who at thirty-one years of age himself won’t be an intimidated youngster, but he might become an overawed 31-year-old. A packed stadium, partly English, for the opening Test of a eagerly awaited Ashes series will not make for an easy debut, no matter how many newspaper profiles describe him as relaxed. He could be brought onto the ground on a banana lounge and still be anxious.

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Who knows, it might all go smoothly for this revamped bowling lineup. It might not work out. What is notable is how rapidly Australia have transitioned from the certainty of Starc, Lyon, Cummins, Hazlewood to the unknown of Starc, Lyon, and others. Who knows what new injuries the opening match may bring. It's unknown whether Cummins will be fit for Brisbane, and able to continue after Brisbane, given how tricky stress fractures can be. Who knows how long Hazlewood might be sidelined, with a history of getting injured early in series and a pattern of minor injuries becoming longer layoffs.

Future Unclear

The back half of the series may see the main four bowlers reunited and all performing well. Or it might see transition beginning much earlier than the long-term aim of 2027 in the UK. Not through Neser, who is seemingly next in line and could be a great pink-ball Brisbane choice, but after that with options unclear. Sean Abbott was in the original team, though he’s now also hurt and has never played a Test match. Richardson has just had his crash-test-dummy arm repaired, and this format is no place for easing into one’s work. Beyond them lies the real unknown, and throughout it opportunity for the opposing side. You can hear that train a-coming, rolling round the bend, and the English team hasn't seen the sunshine since they can't recall when.