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The Ashes could provide one cause for celebration, but this series will also see the Aussie side celebrate a greater number of birthdays than Timezone in the nineties. Recent addition Jake Weatherald had his thirty-first birthday a day prior to the squad was announced. Nathan Lyon turns 38 the day before the Perth Test. Beau Webster reaches 32 just ahead of Brisbane, Usman Khawaja will be 39 on day two in Adelaide, Josh Hazlewood turns 35 on the fifth day in Sydney, and Mitchell Starc will be 36 before January is out.

Older Team Interest Builds

For a couple of years there has been growing fascination with the age of this side and especially the bowling attack. It is rare 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 greater age was a problem: a Test squad featuring a four-bowler lineup with over 1,500 wickets between them is hardly a weakness, and it stands to reason that all of those bowlers are well 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 thirties. Younger bowlers have floated into teams – Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson – before vanishing for years with injury, meaning there has been no clear line of succession.

Transition Imposed by Injuries

So far, that hasn't been an issue, as the Big Four plus Boland have kept on backing up. Any team knows that having a batch of same-generation players might mean a group of similarly-timed departures, but so far transition has remained theoretical: a process that would certainly be arriving the mountain when she comes, but one that had not steamed into view.

Now, abruptly, transition is here, forced upon this Australian squad in the span of a short period. The back injury to Pat Cummins was greeted with equanimity: he would probably only miss the opening match, was the team management view, and as the first-change bowler behind Starc and Hazlewood, he could easily be replaced by Boland.

But now that Hazlewood has been sidelined with a hamstring strain, the team balance undergoes a far greater shift with two players absent rather than a single one. Cummins and Hazlewood as the two tight-line right-armers give the balance and control that allows 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 nothing new in his domestic career, but he has been so successful in Test matches coming on after seven to eight overs of initial onslaught. Now he’ll likely have to be the opening bowler.

Debutant Confronts Pressure

Behind him will come Brendan Doggett, who at thirty-one years of age himself isn't an intimidated youngster, but he might become an overawed 31-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 field on a sun lounger and still be anxious.

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It's uncertain, it might all go smoothly for this revamped bowling lineup. It might not. What is striking is how quickly Australia have moved from the surety of Starc, Lyon, Cummins, Hazlewood to the unknown of Starc, Lyon, mumble mumble. It's unclear what new injuries the first Test may cause. It's unknown whether Cummins will be good to go for Brisbane, and good to back up after Brisbane, given how complicated stress injuries can be. It's uncertain how long Hazlewood might be sidelined, with a history of getting injured early in series and a history of minor injuries becoming extended absences.

Future Unclear

The back half of the series may see the primary four bowlers back together and all performing well. Or it might experience transition setting in much earlier than the stretch goal of 2027 in England. Not through Neser, who is apparently next in line and could be a great day-night Brisbane option, but after that with options uncertain. Sean Abbott was in the original team, though he’s now also injured and has not yet played a Test. Richardson has just had his crash-test-dummy arm put back on, and this level is no place for easing into one’s work. After them lies the real unknown, and amid it all a chance for the visiting team. You can sense that change approaching, rolling round the corner, and the English team hasn't seen the success since they don’t know when.