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The historic Ashes series may offer one cause for celebration, but this series will also see the Australian team host more birthday parties than an arcade in the nineties. Recent addition Jake Weatherald had his thirty-first birthday a day before the squad was announced. Nathan Lyon turns 38 the day before the Test in Perth. Beau Webster turns 32 just ahead of the Brisbane match, 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 out.

Ageing Team Interest Grows

For two or three years there has been mounting curiosity with the average age of this side and particularly the bowling unit. It is rare to have almost every player in a Test team being above thirty, except for novelty-sized mascot Cameron Green and custody-weekend visitor Sam Konstas. But it didn’t logically follow that greater age was a problem: a Test squad featuring a four-bowler lineup with over 1,500 wickets between them is hardly a weakness, and it makes sense that all of those bowlers are well into their professional lives.

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

Change Forced by Injuries

So far, that hasn't been an issue, as the core four plus Boland have continued performing. Any side knows that having a batch of same-generation players might mean a batch of similarly-timed departures, but so far transition has remained hypothetical: a train that would certainly be arriving the bend when she comes, but one that had not steamed into view.

Now, suddenly, transition is here, imposed on this Australian squad in the span of a few weeks. The back injury to Pat Cummins was greeted with equanimity: he would likely only sit out the opening match, was the Cricket Australia view, and as the first bowling change behind Starc and Hazlewood, he could easily be covered for by Boland.

But now that Hazlewood has gone down with a hamstring strain, the team balance undergoes a much more significant shift with two key bowlers missing rather than one. Cummins and Hazlewood as the two tight-line right-armers give the balance and control 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 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 to eight overs of early pressure. Now he’ll likely have to be the opening bowler.

Debutant Confronts Expectations

Behind him will come Brendan Doggett, who at thirty-one years of age himself won’t be an overawed youth, but he might become an overawed 31-year-old. A full stadium crowd, partly English, for the opening Test of a eagerly awaited Ashes series will not make for an easy debut, no matter how many media stories describe him as laid-back. He could be brought onto the ground on a banana lounge 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 moved from the surety of Starc, Lyon, Cummins, Hazlewood to the unknown of Starc, Lyon, and others. It's unclear 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 complicated stress injuries can be. Who knows how long Hazlewood might be out, with a track record of going down early in tournaments and a history of initially small injuries becoming extended absences.

Outlook Unclear

The back half of the series may see the primary four bowlers back together and all performing well. Or it might see transition beginning much sooner than the stretch goal of 2027 in England. Not through Neser, who is seemingly next in line and could be a excellent pink-ball Brisbane choice, but after that with options uncertain. 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 put back on, and this format is not the place for gradually starting one’s work. After them lies the true uncertainty, and throughout it opportunity for the visiting team. You can hear that change approaching, rolling round the corner, and England hasn't seen the success since they don’t know when.