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The historic Ashes series may offer one cause for celebration, but this contest will also see the Australian team celebrate more birthday parties than an arcade in the 90s. New boy Jake Weatherald had his thirty-first birthday a day before the squad was named. Nathan Lyon celebrates 38 the day before the Test in Perth. Beau Webster reaches 32 just ahead of Brisbane, Usman Khawaja will be 39 on day two in Adelaide, Josh Hazlewood turns 35 on the final day in Sydney, and Mitchell Starc will be 36 by the time January is over.

Ageing Squad Fascination Grows

For two or three years there has been mounting curiosity with the age of this team and particularly the bowling unit. It is unusual to have almost every player near a Test team being above thirty, except for young mascot Cameron Green and occasional visitor Sam Konstas. But it didn’t logically follow that older age was a problem: a Test squad boasting a four-man attack with 1,568 wickets between them is hardly a disadvantage, and it stands to reason that all of those bowlers are well into their careers.

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Perhaps what most amplified the discussion is that the backup bowlers over that period, Scott Boland and Michael Neser, are also deep into their thirties. Younger bowlers have briefly joined teams – Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson – before disappearing for years with injury, meaning there has been no clear line of succession.

Change Forced by Setbacks

So far, that hasn’t mattered, as the core four plus Boland have kept on performing. Any team 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 certainly be arriving the bend when she comes, but one that had not become visible.

Now, suddenly, transition is upon them, imposed on this Aussie team in the space of a few weeks. The back injury to Pat Cummins was taken in stride: 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 comfortably be covered for by Boland.

But now that Hazlewood has been sidelined with a hamstring strain, the balance experiences a far greater shift with two players missing rather than a single 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. Missing both of them means a major adjustment in the balance of the team. Boland handling the new ball is not unusual in his first-class career, but he has been so successful in Test matches entering the attack after seven or eight overs of early pressure. Now he’ll likely have to be the man up front.

Newcomer Faces Pressure

Behind him will come Brendan Doggett, who at 31 years old 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 eagerly awaited Ashes series will not make for an simple first match, no matter how many newspaper profiles describe him as relaxed. He could be wheeled onto the ground on a banana lounge and still be nervous.

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It's uncertain, it might all go swimmingly for this new attack. It might not. What is notable is how rapidly Australia have moved from the certainty of Starc, Lyon, Cummins, Hazlewood to the unknown of Starc, Lyon, and others. It's unclear what further injuries the first Test may cause. Who knows whether Cummins will be fit for Brisbane, and able to continue after that match, given how complicated stress fractures can be. Who knows how long Hazlewood might be sidelined, with a track record of getting injured early in tournaments and a history of initially small injuries turning into longer layoffs.

Outlook Uncertain

The latter part of the series may witness the main four bowlers back together and all performing well. Or it might see transition beginning much sooner than the stretch goal of 2027 in the UK. Not through Neser, who is seemingly the next option and could be a great pink-ball Brisbane choice, but after that with choices uncertain. 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 injury-prone arm repaired, and this format is no place for gradually starting one’s work. After them lies the real unknown, and throughout it opportunity for the opposing side. You can hear that change a-coming, coming around the corner, and England ain’t seen the success since they can't recall when.