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The Ashes may offer one cause for celebration, but this contest will also witness the Australian team celebrate a greater number of birthdays than Timezone in the 90s. New boy Jake Weatherald had his 31st a day before the squad was named. Nathan Lyon celebrates 38 the day preceding the Perth Test. Beau Webster turns 32 just before the Brisbane match, Usman Khawaja will be 39 on day two in Adelaide, Josh Hazlewood becomes 35 on the final day in Sydney, and Mitchell Starc will be 36 before January is out.

Ageing Team Fascination Builds

For two or three years there has been mounting curiosity with the age of this side and especially the bowling unit. It is rare to have almost every player in a Test side being over 30, except for young mascot Cameron Green and custody-weekend visitor Sam Konstas. But it didn’t logically follow that older age was a disadvantage: a Test squad boasting a four-bowler lineup with over 1,500 wickets between them is hardly a disadvantage, and it makes sense that all of those bowlers are well into their careers.

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Perhaps what really highlighted the discussion is that the backup bowlers over that time, Scott Boland and Michael Neser, are also well into their thirties. Younger bowlers have floated into squads – Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson – before vanishing 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 backing up. Any team knows that having a group of same-generation players might mean a batch of simultaneous retirements, but so far transition has remained theoretical: a process that would indeed be arriving the mountain when she comes, but one that hadn’t yet become visible.

Now, abruptly, change is upon them, imposed on this Australian squad in the span of a short period. The back injury to Pat Cummins was taken in stride: he would likely only sit out the first Test, was the team management assessment, and as the first bowling change behind Starc and Hazlewood, he could easily be replaced by Boland.

But now that Hazlewood has gone down with a hamstring strain, the team balance experiences a much more significant change with two players absent rather than one. Cummins and Hazlewood as the two accurate right-arm bowlers give the balance and control that allows Starc’s left-arm speed and movement to be used more as a weapon of attack. Losing both of them means a fundamental shift in the composition of the team. Boland handling the new ball is nothing new in his first-class career, but he has been so effective in Test matches coming on after seven to eight overs of initial onslaught. Now he’ll likely have to be the opening bowler.

Debutant Faces Pressure

Behind him will come Brendan Doggett, who at 31 years old himself won’t be an intimidated youngster, but he might become an overawed 31-year-old. A full stadium crowd, half of it English, for the first Test of a deliriously anticipated Ashes series will not make for an easy debut, no matter how many newspaper profiles describe him as relaxed. He could be wheeled onto the field on a sun lounger and still be nervous.

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Who knows, it might all go smoothly for this new attack. It might not work out. What is notable is how rapidly Australia have transitioned from the certainty of Starc, Lyon, Cummins, Hazlewood to the uncertainty of Starc, Lyon, and others. Who knows what further injuries the first Test may bring. It's unknown whether Cummins will be good to go for the Brisbane Test, and good to back up after that match, given how tricky stress injuries can be. Who knows how long Hazlewood might be out, with a track record of getting injured early in series and a history of minor injuries turning into extended absences.

Future Uncertain

The back half of the contest may witness the main four bowlers reunited and all going well. Or it might experience transition setting in much earlier than the long-term aim of 2027 in the UK. Not through Neser, who is apparently the next option and could be a excellent pink-ball Brisbane choice, but beyond that with choices uncertain. Sean Abbott was in the initial squad, though he’s now also injured and has never played a Test match. Richardson has just had his crash-test-dummy arm repaired, and this level is not the place for gradually starting one’s work. After them lies the real unknown, and throughout it a chance for the opposing side. You can hear that train a-coming, rolling round the bend, and England hasn't seen the sunshine since they can't recall when.