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The historic Ashes series could provide one cause for celebration, but this contest will also witness the Aussie side celebrate a greater number of birthdays than an arcade in the nineties. New boy Jake Weatherald had his thirty-first birthday a day prior to the team was named. Nathan Lyon turns 38 the day before the Test in Perth. Beau Webster turns 32 just before the Brisbane match, Usman Khawaja will be 39 on the second day in Adelaide, Josh Hazlewood turns 35 on the fifth day in Sydney, and Mitchell Starc will be 36 by the time January is out.

Older Team Fascination Grows

For two or three years there has been mounting fascination with the age of this team and especially the bowling unit. It is rare to have nearly all player in a Test side being above thirty, aside from young 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-man attack with over 1,500 wickets between them is scarcely a weakness, and it makes sense that all of those bowlers are deep into their careers.

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Perhaps what most amplified the discussion is that the reserve players over that time, Scott Boland and Michael Neser, are also well into their 30s. Younger bowlers have floated into teams – Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson – before disappearing for years with injuries, meaning there has been no clear line of succession.

Transition Forced by Setbacks

So far, that hasn’t mattered, as the core four plus Boland have kept on performing. Any side knows that having a batch of same-generation players might mean a batch of simultaneous departures, but so far transition has remained theoretical: a process that would indeed be coming round the bend when she comes, but one that hadn’t yet steamed into view.

Now, suddenly, change is here, imposed on this Australian squad in the span of a short period. The back injury to Pat Cummins was greeted with equanimity: he would probably only miss the first Test, was the Cricket Australia view, and as the first-change bowler behind Starc and Hazlewood, he could comfortably be replaced by Boland.

But now that Hazlewood has been sidelined with a hamstring strain, the team balance undergoes a much more significant change with two key bowlers absent rather than 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. Missing both of them means a fundamental shift in the composition of the side. Boland taking the new ball is nothing new in his first-class career, but he has been so successful in Test matches coming on after seven to eight overs of early pressure. Now he’ll likely have to be the man up front.

Debutant Confronts Pressure

Behind him will come Brendan Doggett, who at 31 years old himself won’t be an overawed youth, but he might become an nervous thirty-one-year-old. A packed stadium, half of it English, for the opening Test of a deliriously anticipated Ashes series will not make for an simple first match, no matter how many media stories portray him as laid-back. He could be wheeled onto the ground 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. 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. Who knows what new injuries the first Test may cause. Who knows whether Cummins will be good to go for the Brisbane Test, and able to continue after Brisbane, given how tricky stress fractures can be. Who knows how long Hazlewood might be out, with a history of getting injured early in series and a pattern of initially small injuries becoming longer layoffs.

Outlook Unclear

The back half of the series may see the primary four bowlers back together and all going well. Or it might see transition setting in much sooner than the stretch goal of 2027 in the UK. Not through Neser, who is apparently next in line and could be a excellent day-night Brisbane option, 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. Richardson has just had his injury-prone arm repaired, and this format is not the place for easing into one’s work. Beyond them lies the true uncertainty, and amid it all opportunity for the opposing side. You can hear that train a-coming, rolling round the corner, and England ain’t seen the sunshine since they don’t know when.