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The Ashes could provide one cause for celebration, but this contest will also see the Aussie side host a greater number of birthdays than Timezone in the 90s. New boy Jake Weatherald had his thirty-first birthday a day before the squad was named. Nathan Lyon turns 38 the day before the Test in Perth. Beau Webster turns 32 just ahead of the Brisbane match, 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 by the time January is over.

Older Team Interest 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 side being above thirty, except for novelty-sized mascot Cameron Green and occasional visitor Sam Konstas. But it didn’t logically follow that older age was a problem: a Test team featuring a four-man attack with 1,568 wickets between them is scarcely a disadvantage, and it makes sense that all of those bowlers are deep into their careers.

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

Perhaps what most amplified the discussion is that the reserve players over that period, Scott Boland and Michael Neser, are also deep into their 30s. Emerging pacemen have briefly joined squads – Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson – before disappearing for years with injuries, 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 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 transition has remained theoretical: a process that would certainly be arriving the mountain when she comes, but one that hadn’t yet steamed into view.

Now, abruptly, transition is here, imposed on this Aussie team in the space of a short period. The spinal issue to Pat Cummins was greeted with equanimity: he would likely only sit out the opening match, 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 gone down with a hamstring injury, the balance undergoes a much more significant change with two key bowlers absent 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 attacking option. Missing both of them means a fundamental shift in the balance of the side. Boland taking the new ball is nothing new in his first-class career, but he has been so successful in Tests coming on after seven or eight overs of initial onslaught. Now he’ll likely have to be the opening bowler.

Newcomer Confronts Expectations

Behind him will come Brendan Doggett, who at thirty-one years of age himself isn't an intimidated youngster, but he might become an nervous thirty-one-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 portray him as relaxed. He could be wheeled onto the ground on a banana lounge and still be anxious.

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It's uncertain, it might all go smoothly for this new attack. It might not work out. What is striking is how rapidly Australia have transitioned from the surety of Starc, Lyon, Cummins, Hazlewood to the unknown of Starc, Lyon, and others. Who knows what new injuries the first Test may bring. It's unknown whether Cummins will be fit for the Brisbane Test, and able to continue after Brisbane, given how tricky stress injuries can be. Who knows how long Hazlewood might be out, with a history of getting injured early in series and a pattern of minor injuries becoming extended absences.

Outlook Unclear

The back half of the series may witness the main four bowlers back together and all performing well. Or it might see 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 excellent day-night Brisbane option, but after that with options uncertain. Sean Abbott was in the original team, though he’s now also hurt and has not yet played a Test match. Richardson has just had his crash-test-dummy arm put back on, and this format is not the place for gradually starting one’s work. Beyond them lies the real unknown, and amid it all a chance for the visiting team. You can hear that change approaching, rolling round the bend, and England hasn't seen the sunshine since they can't recall when.