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The Ashes could provide a reason to cheer, but this contest will also witness the Australian team host a greater number of birthdays than an arcade in the 90s. Recent addition Jake Weatherald had his thirty-first birthday a day before the team was announced. Nathan Lyon turns 38 the day before the Perth Test. Beau Webster turns 32 just before Brisbane, 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 over.

Ageing Team Interest Builds

For two or three years there has been growing fascination with the age of this side and especially the bowling attack. It is unusual to have nearly all player in a Test team being over 30, aside from young mascot Cameron Green and occasional visitor Sam Konstas. But it wasn't necessarily true that greater age was a disadvantage: a Test squad featuring a four-bowler lineup with 1,568 wickets between them is hardly a disadvantage, and it makes sense that all of those bowlers are well into their professional lives.

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

Perhaps what really highlighted the discussion is that the reserve players over that time, Scott Boland and Michael Neser, are also well into their 30s. Younger bowlers have briefly joined squads – Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson – before disappearing for years with injury, meaning there has been no clear line of succession.

Transition Imposed by Injuries

So far, that hasn’t mattered, as the Big Four plus Boland have continued performing. Any side knows that having a batch of similarly-aged players might mean a group of simultaneous retirements, but so far transition has remained theoretical: a process that would indeed be arriving the bend when she comes, but one that had not become visible.

Now, suddenly, change is here, imposed on this Australian squad in the span of a short period. The back injury to Pat Cummins was greeted with equanimity: he would likely only miss the opening match, was the Cricket Australia assessment, and as the first bowling change behind Starc and Hazlewood, he could comfortably be covered for by Boland.

But now that Hazlewood has gone down with a hamstring strain, the balance undergoes a far greater shift with two players missing rather than a single one. Cummins and Hazlewood as the two tight-line right-armers give the stability and precision that allows Starc’s left-arm pace and swing to be used more as a weapon of attack. Missing both of them means a fundamental shift 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 Tests coming on after seven to eight overs of initial onslaught. Now he’ll probably have to be the opening bowler.

Newcomer Confronts Pressure

Behind him will come Brendan Doggett, who at thirty-one years of age himself won’t be an overawed youth, but he might become an overawed 31-year-old. A full stadium crowd, partly 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 laid-back. He could be brought onto the field on a sun lounger and still be anxious.

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Who knows, it might all go swimmingly for this revamped bowling lineup. It might not work out. What is striking is how quickly Australia have transitioned from the surety of Starc, Lyon, Cummins, Hazlewood to the uncertainty of Starc, Lyon, and others. Who knows what further injuries the opening match may cause. It's unknown whether Cummins will be good to go for the Brisbane Test, and able to continue after that match, given how tricky stress injuries can be. Who knows how long Hazlewood might be out, with a history of going down early in tournaments and a pattern of minor injuries turning into extended absences.

Outlook Uncertain

The latter part of the series may see the primary four bowlers back together and all going well. Or it might see transition beginning much earlier than the long-term aim of 2027 in England. Not through Neser, who is seemingly next in line and could be a great pink-ball Brisbane option, but after that with options uncertain. Sean Abbott was in the initial squad, though he’s now also hurt and has not yet played a Test match. Richardson has just had his crash-test-dummy arm repaired, and this level is no place for easing into one’s work. Beyond them lies the real unknown, and throughout it a chance for the opposing side. You can hear that train a-coming, coming around the corner, and the English team hasn't seen the sunshine since they can't recall when.