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The Ashes could provide one cause for celebration, but this contest will also witness the Aussie side celebrate a greater number of birthdays than Timezone in the 90s. New boy Jake Weatherald celebrated his 31st a day prior to the team was announced. Nathan Lyon turns 38 the day before the Perth Test. Beau Webster reaches 32 just ahead of Brisbane, Usman Khawaja will be 39 on the second day 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 Team Fascination Builds

For two or three years there has been mounting fascination with the age of this side and particularly the bowling unit. It is rare to have almost every player near a Test team being above thirty, aside from young mascot Cameron Green and custody-weekend visitor Sam Konstas. But it wasn't necessarily true that older age was a problem: a Test team featuring a four-bowler lineup with 1,568 wickets between them is scarcely 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 talking point is that the backup bowlers over that period, Scott Boland and Michael Neser, are also deep into their thirties. 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 mattered, as the Big Four plus Boland have continued performing. Any team knows that having a batch of same-generation players might mean a group of similarly-timed departures, but so far transition has remained theoretical: a train that would certainly be arriving the mountain when she comes, but one that hadn’t yet steamed into view.

Now, abruptly, transition is here, forced upon this Aussie team in the space of a few weeks. The back injury to Pat Cummins was greeted with equanimity: he would probably only miss the opening match, was the Cricket Australia assessment, and as the first-change bowler behind Starc and Hazlewood, he could easily be replaced by Boland.

But now that Hazlewood has been sidelined with a hamstring injury, the balance undergoes a much more significant change with two players absent 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 attacking option. Losing both of them means a major adjustment in the balance of the team. Boland handling the new ball is nothing new in his first-class career, but he has been so successful in Tests coming on after seven to eight overs of early pressure. Now he’ll probably have to be the opening bowler.

Newcomer Faces Expectations

Behind him will come Brendan Doggett, who at 31 years old himself isn't an overawed youth, but he might become an nervous thirty-one-year-old. A full stadium crowd, half of it English, for the opening Test of a deliriously anticipated Ashes series will not make for an easy debut, no matter how many newspaper profiles portray him as laid-back. He could be brought onto the field on a sun lounger and still be anxious.

Register to The Spin

Who knows, it might all go swimmingly for this revamped bowling lineup. It might not work out. What is notable is how rapidly Australia have moved from the surety of Starc, Lyon, Cummins, Hazlewood to the unknown of Starc, Lyon, mumble mumble. It's unclear what further injuries the opening match may cause. Who knows whether Cummins will be good to go for the Brisbane Test, and able to continue after Brisbane, given how complicated stress injuries can be. It's uncertain how long Hazlewood might be sidelined, with a track record of going down early in series and a history of minor injuries becoming longer layoffs.

Outlook Uncertain

The back half of the contest may see the primary four bowlers back together and all performing 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 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 injury-prone arm put back on, and this format is no place for easing into one’s work. Beyond them lies the true uncertainty, and throughout it opportunity for the visiting team. You can sense that change approaching, rolling round the corner, and the English team ain’t seen the success since they can't recall when.