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The historic Ashes series could provide one cause for celebration, but this contest will also see the Aussie side celebrate a greater number of birthdays than an arcade in the nineties. Recent addition Jake Weatherald celebrated his thirty-first birthday a day before the team was announced. Nathan Lyon celebrates 38 the day before the Test in Perth. Beau Webster turns 32 just before the Brisbane match, Usman Khawaja will be 39 on day two 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 Grows

For a couple of years there has been growing curiosity with the average age of this team and especially the bowling attack. It is unusual 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 wasn't necessarily true that older age was a disadvantage: a Test team featuring a four-man attack 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.

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Perhaps what really highlighted the discussion is that the backup bowlers over that period, Scott Boland and Michael Neser, are also deep into their 30s. Emerging pacemen have floated into squads – Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson – before vanishing for years with injuries, meaning there has been no clear line of succession.

Transition Imposed by Injuries

So far, that hasn’t mattered, as the core four plus Boland have kept on performing. Any side knows that having a group of similarly-aged players might mean a group of simultaneous departures, but so far transition has remained theoretical: a process that would certainly be coming round the bend when she comes, but one that had not become visible.

Now, abruptly, 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 sit out the opening match, was the Cricket Australia assessment, and as the first-change bowler behind Starc and Hazlewood, he could easily be replaced by Boland.

But now that Hazlewood has gone down with a hamstring strain, the team balance experiences a much more significant shift with two key bowlers missing 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 weapon of attack. Losing both of them means a major adjustment in the balance of the team. Boland taking the new ball is nothing new in his domestic career, but he has been so successful in Tests coming on after seven or eight overs of initial onslaught. Now he’ll probably have to be the opening bowler.

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 overawed 31-year-old. A packed stadium, partly English, for the opening Test of a eagerly awaited Ashes series will not make for an simple first match, no matter how many newspaper profiles portray him as laid-back. He could be wheeled onto the field on a banana lounge and still be anxious.

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Who knows, it might all go smoothly for this revamped bowling lineup. It might not. What is striking is how rapidly Australia have transitioned from the surety of Starc, Lyon, Cummins, Hazlewood to the unknown 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 able to continue after Brisbane, given how tricky stress fractures can be. It's uncertain how long Hazlewood might be sidelined, with a history of getting injured early in series and a pattern of minor injuries turning into longer layoffs.

Outlook Uncertain

The back half of the contest may witness the primary four bowlers reunited and all performing well. Or it might see transition setting in 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 option, but after 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 put back on, and this level is no place for gradually starting one’s work. After them lies the real unknown, and throughout it a chance for the opposing side. You can sense that change approaching, coming around the bend, and England ain’t seen the success since they don’t know when.