🔗 Share this article

The historic Ashes series could provide a reason to cheer, but this contest will also see the Australian team host more birthday parties than Timezone in the nineties. New boy Jake Weatherald celebrated his thirty-first birthday a day before the squad was named. Nathan Lyon turns 38 the day before the Perth Test. Beau Webster reaches 32 just before the Brisbane match, Usman Khawaja will be 39 on the second day in Adelaide, Josh Hazlewood becomes 35 on the final day in Sydney, and Mitchell Starc will be 36 before January is out.

Older Squad Interest Builds

For a couple of years there has been mounting curiosity with the average age of this team and particularly the bowling unit. It is rare to have almost every player in a Test side being over 30, except for novelty-sized mascot Cameron Green and custody-weekend visitor Sam Konstas. But it didn’t logically follow that older age was a problem: a Test team boasting a four-bowler lineup with 1,568 wickets between them is scarcely a disadvantage, and it stands to reason that all of those bowlers are well into their professional lives.

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

Perhaps what most amplified the discussion is that the reserve players over that time, Scott Boland and Michael Neser, are also well into their thirties. Emerging pacemen have floated into squads – Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson – before disappearing for years with injuries, meaning there has been no obvious replacement plan.

Change Imposed by Injuries

So far, that hasn't been an issue, as the core four plus Boland have kept on performing. Any side knows that having a batch of same-generation players might mean a group of simultaneous retirements, but so far change has remained theoretical: a process that would certainly be coming round the mountain when she comes, but one that hadn’t yet steamed into view.

Now, abruptly, change is upon them, forced upon this Australian squad in the space of a short period. The back injury to Pat Cummins was taken in stride: he would likely only sit out the opening match, was the team management assessment, and as the first-change bowler behind Starc and Hazlewood, he could easily be covered for by Boland.

But now that Hazlewood has gone down with a hamstring injury, the balance undergoes a much more significant shift with two players missing rather than one. Cummins and Hazlewood as the two tight-line right-armers give the balance and control that enables 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 side. Boland taking the new ball is not unusual in his first-class career, but he has been so effective in Test matches entering the attack after seven or eight overs of early pressure. Now he’ll likely have to be the opening bowler.

Debutant Faces Pressure

Behind him will come Brendan Doggett, who at 31 years old himself isn't an overawed youth, but he might become an overawed 31-year-old. A full stadium crowd, half of it English, for the first Test of a eagerly awaited Ashes series will not make for an easy debut, no matter how many media stories describe him as relaxed. He could be wheeled onto the ground on a banana lounge and still be anxious.

Register to our cricket newsletter

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 transitioned from the certainty of Starc, Lyon, Cummins, Hazlewood to the uncertainty of Starc, Lyon, mumble mumble. It's unclear what new injuries the opening match may cause. Who knows whether Cummins will be good to go for the Brisbane Test, and good to back up after Brisbane, given how complicated stress injuries can be. Who knows how long Hazlewood might be sidelined, with a history of getting injured early in series and a history of initially small injuries turning into extended absences.

Outlook Uncertain

The latter part of the contest may witness the primary four bowlers back together and all performing well. Or it might see transition beginning much sooner 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 choice, but after that with options unclear. Sean Abbott was in the original team, though he’s now also injured 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 gradually starting one’s work. Beyond them lies the real unknown, and throughout it a chance for the opposing side. You can hear that change approaching, rolling round the bend, and the English team hasn't seen the sunshine since they can't recall when.