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The Ashes could provide a reason to cheer, but this series will also witness 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 announced. Nathan Lyon turns 38 the day preceding the Perth Test. Beau Webster turns 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 before January is out.

Older Team Interest Builds

For two or three years there has been growing fascination with the age of this team and particularly the bowling unit. It is rare to have nearly all player near a Test team being over 30, 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-man attack with over 1,500 wickets between them is scarcely a disadvantage, and it makes sense that all of those bowlers are well into their careers.

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

Perhaps what most amplified the discussion is that the backup bowlers over that time, Scott Boland and Michael Neser, are also well into their thirties. Emerging pacemen have floated into teams – Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson – before vanishing for years with injury, meaning there has been no clear line of succession.

Change Forced by Injuries

So far, that hasn’t mattered, as the Big Four plus Boland have continued performing. Any team knows that having a group of similarly-aged players might mean a group of similarly-timed retirements, but so far change has remained hypothetical: a process that would certainly be coming round the bend when she comes, but one that hadn’t yet become visible.

Now, abruptly, change is here, forced upon this Aussie team in the space of a short period. The back injury to Pat Cummins was greeted with equanimity: he would probably only sit out the opening match, was the Cricket Australia assessment, and as the first-change bowler 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 experiences a much more significant shift with two players missing rather than a single one. Cummins and Hazlewood as the two accurate right-arm bowlers give the stability and precision that enables 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 side. Boland handling the new ball is not unusual in his first-class career, but he has been so effective in Tests coming on after seven to eight overs of early pressure. Now he’ll likely have to be the opening bowler.

Newcomer Faces Pressure

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 first Test of a deliriously anticipated Ashes series will not make for an simple first match, no matter how many media stories portray him as relaxed. He could be brought onto the field on a sun lounger and still be nervous.

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Who knows, it might all go smoothly for this revamped bowling lineup. It might not work out. What is notable is how quickly Australia have moved from the surety of Starc, Lyon, Cummins, Hazlewood to the uncertainty of Starc, Lyon, and others. It's unclear what further injuries the opening match may bring. It's unknown whether Cummins will be good to go for Brisbane, and good to back up after Brisbane, given how tricky stress injuries can be. Who knows how long Hazlewood might be sidelined, with a track record of getting injured early in tournaments and a pattern of minor injuries becoming longer layoffs.

Outlook Unclear

The back half of the series may see the primary four bowlers reunited and all performing well. Or it might see transition beginning much earlier than the stretch goal of 2027 in England. Not through Neser, who is apparently the next option and could be a excellent day-night Brisbane choice, but beyond that with options unclear. 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 injury-prone arm repaired, and this format is not the place for easing into one’s work. After them lies the true uncertainty, and amid it all a chance for the visiting team. You can sense that train a-coming, coming around the bend, and England ain’t seen the sunshine since they don’t know when.