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The historic Ashes series could provide a reason to cheer, but this series will also witness the Australian team host a greater number of birthdays than an arcade in the 90s. New boy Jake Weatherald had his thirty-first birthday a day before the team was named. Nathan Lyon celebrates 38 the day preceding the Perth Test. Beau Webster turns 32 just ahead of 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 Fascination Builds

For two or three years there has been growing curiosity with the average age of this team and especially the bowling unit. It is unusual to have nearly all player near a Test side being above thirty, except for young mascot Cameron Green and custody-weekend visitor Sam Konstas. But it wasn't necessarily true that greater age was a problem: a Test squad boasting a four-man attack with over 1,500 wickets between them is hardly a disadvantage, and it stands to reason that all of those bowlers are well into their professional lives.

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

Change Forced by Setbacks

So far, that hasn't been an issue, as the Big Four plus Boland have kept on backing up. Any side knows that having a batch of similarly-aged players might mean a batch of similarly-timed departures, but so far change has remained theoretical: a process that would certainly be arriving the mountain when she comes, but one that hadn’t yet become visible.

Now, abruptly, transition is upon them, imposed on this Aussie team in the space of a short period. The spinal issue to Pat Cummins was taken in stride: he would likely only miss the opening match, was the team management view, and as the first bowling change behind Starc and Hazlewood, he could comfortably be covered for by Boland.

But now that Hazlewood has been sidelined with a hamstring strain, the team balance experiences a far greater change with two key bowlers missing 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 attacking option. Losing both of them means a major adjustment in the composition of the team. Boland handling the new ball is nothing new 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.

Newcomer Faces Pressure

Behind him will come Brendan Doggett, who at 31 years old himself isn't an intimidated youngster, but he might become an nervous thirty-one-year-old. A packed stadium, partly English, for the opening Test of a deliriously anticipated Ashes series will not make for an easy debut, no matter how many media stories portray him as laid-back. He could be brought onto the ground on a sun lounger and still be nervous.

Sign up to The Spin

It's uncertain, it might all go smoothly for this new attack. It might not. What is striking is how rapidly Australia have moved 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 good to back up after Brisbane, 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 initially small injuries becoming longer layoffs.

Future Uncertain

The latter part of the series may see the main four bowlers reunited and all performing well. Or it might see transition beginning much earlier than the long-term aim of 2027 in England. Not through Neser, who is apparently the next option and could be a great pink-ball Brisbane choice, but after that with choices unclear. Sean Abbott was in the initial squad, though he’s now also hurt and has never played a Test. Richardson has just had his injury-prone arm put back on, and this level is no place for gradually starting one’s work. Beyond them lies the real unknown, and amid it all a chance for the visiting team. You can hear that train a-coming, rolling round the bend, and the English team hasn't seen the sunshine since they can't recall when.