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The historic Ashes series could provide one cause for celebration, but this contest will also see the Aussie side celebrate more birthday parties 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 preceding the Perth Test. Beau Webster reaches 32 just before Brisbane, 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 by the time January is out.

Older Team Fascination Builds

For two or three years there has been growing curiosity with the age of this side and particularly the bowling attack. It is rare to have almost every player in a Test side 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 team featuring a four-bowler lineup with over 1,500 wickets between them is hardly a disadvantage, and it stands to reason that all of those bowlers are deep into their careers.

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

Perhaps what most amplified the talking point is that the backup bowlers over that time, Scott Boland and Michael Neser, are also deep into their thirties. Younger bowlers have floated into squads – Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson – before disappearing for years with injury, meaning there has been no obvious replacement plan.

Change Imposed by Injuries

So far, that hasn't been an issue, as the Big Four plus Boland have kept on performing. Any team knows that having a group of similarly-aged players might mean a batch 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 become visible.

Now, suddenly, change 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 first Test, was the Cricket Australia view, and as the first bowling change behind Starc and Hazlewood, he could easily be covered for by Boland.

But now that Hazlewood has been sidelined with a hamstring injury, the team balance experiences a much more significant shift with two key bowlers missing rather than one. Cummins and Hazlewood as the two accurate right-arm bowlers 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 composition of the side. Boland taking the new ball is not unusual 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 likely have to be the man up front.

Newcomer Faces Expectations

Behind him will come Brendan Doggett, who at thirty-one years of age himself isn't an overawed youth, 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 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. What is notable is how quickly Australia have transitioned from the surety of Starc, Lyon, Cummins, Hazlewood to the uncertainty of Starc, Lyon, mumble mumble. It's unclear what further injuries the opening match may bring. It's unknown whether Cummins will be fit for Brisbane, and good to back up after Brisbane, given how complicated stress fractures can be. It's uncertain how long Hazlewood might be out, with a track record of getting injured early in series and a pattern of minor injuries turning into longer layoffs.

Outlook Uncertain

The latter part of the series may see the primary four bowlers reunited and all performing well. Or it might experience transition setting in much sooner than the long-term aim of 2027 in England. Not through Neser, who is apparently next in line and could be a excellent day-night Brisbane option, but after that with choices unclear. 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 no place for gradually starting one’s work. After them lies the real unknown, and throughout it a chance for the visiting team. You can hear that change a-coming, coming around the corner, and the English team hasn't seen the sunshine since they can't recall when.