🔗 Share this article

The Ashes may offer a reason to cheer, but this contest will also witness the Aussie side celebrate more birthday parties than Timezone in the nineties. New boy Jake Weatherald celebrated his 31st a day prior to the squad was named. Nathan Lyon celebrates 38 the day before the Test in Perth. Beau Webster reaches 32 just before 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 over.

Older Squad Fascination Grows

For two or three years there has been growing fascination with the average age of this side and particularly the bowling unit. It is rare to have nearly all player near a Test side being above thirty, except for novelty-sized mascot Cameron Green and occasional visitor Sam Konstas. But it wasn't necessarily true that older age was a disadvantage: a Test team boasting a four-man attack with 1,568 wickets between them is scarcely a weakness, and it makes sense that all of those bowlers are deep into their professional lives.

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

Perhaps what really highlighted the discussion is that the reserve players over that time, Scott Boland and Michael Neser, are also deep into their 30s. Younger bowlers have briefly joined teams – Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson – before disappearing for years with injuries, meaning there has been no obvious replacement plan.

Change Forced by Setbacks

So far, that hasn't been an issue, as the core four plus Boland have continued backing up. Any side knows that having a batch of same-generation players might mean a group of similarly-timed retirements, but so far transition has remained theoretical: a process that would certainly be coming round the mountain when she comes, but one that had not become visible.

Now, suddenly, change is upon them, forced upon this Aussie team in the space of a short period. The back injury to Pat Cummins was taken in stride: he would probably only miss the opening match, was the team management assessment, and as the first bowling change behind Starc and Hazlewood, he could comfortably be replaced by Boland.

But now that Hazlewood has been sidelined with a hamstring injury, the balance undergoes a much more significant shift with two key bowlers absent rather than a single one. Cummins and Hazlewood as the two accurate right-arm bowlers give the stability and precision that allows Starc’s left-arm pace and swing to be used more as a weapon of attack. Losing 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 effective in Test matches coming on after seven to eight overs of initial onslaught. Now he’ll probably have to be the man up front.

Debutant Faces Pressure

Behind him will come Brendan Doggett, who at 31 years old himself won’t be an intimidated youngster, but he might become an nervous thirty-one-year-old. A packed stadium, 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 describe him as relaxed. He could be wheeled onto the ground on a sun lounger and still be anxious.

Register to our cricket newsletter

It's uncertain, it might all go swimmingly for this new attack. It might not work out. What is notable is how rapidly Australia have transitioned from the surety of Starc, Lyon, Cummins, Hazlewood to the uncertainty of Starc, Lyon, mumble mumble. It's unclear what new injuries the first Test may cause. It's unknown whether Cummins will be fit for the Brisbane Test, and good to back up after that match, given how complicated stress fractures can be. Who knows how long Hazlewood might be sidelined, with a history of going down early in tournaments and a history of minor injuries turning into longer layoffs.

Outlook Uncertain

The latter part of the series may see the main four bowlers reunited and all going well. Or it might see transition setting in much earlier than the long-term aim of 2027 in the UK. Not through Neser, who is seemingly the next option and could be a excellent pink-ball Brisbane choice, but beyond that with options uncertain. Sean Abbott was in the original team, though he’s now also hurt and has not yet played a Test. Richardson has just had his crash-test-dummy arm put back on, and this level is not the place for easing into one’s work. After them lies the true uncertainty, and amid it all a chance for the opposing side. You can sense that change approaching, rolling round the corner, and the English team ain’t seen the sunshine since they can't recall when.