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The Ashes may offer a reason to cheer, but this series will also witness the Aussie side celebrate a greater number of birthdays than an arcade in the 90s. New boy Jake Weatherald had his 31st a day before the squad was named. Nathan Lyon turns 38 the day preceding 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 turns 35 on the fifth day in Sydney, and Mitchell Starc will be 36 by the time 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 especially the bowling attack. It is rare to have almost every player near a Test side being above thirty, aside from novelty-sized mascot Cameron Green and occasional visitor Sam Konstas. But it didn’t logically follow that greater age was a disadvantage: a Test team featuring 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 most amplified the talking point is that the backup bowlers over that period, Scott Boland and Michael Neser, are also well into their 30s. Emerging pacemen have floated into teams – Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson – before vanishing 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 group 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 mountain when she comes, but one that had not become visible.

Now, suddenly, change is here, forced upon this Aussie team in the space of a short period. The spinal issue to Pat Cummins was greeted with equanimity: he would likely only miss 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 been sidelined with a hamstring injury, the team balance experiences a far greater shift with two key bowlers absent rather than one. Cummins and Hazlewood as the two tight-line right-armers give the stability and precision that enables Starc’s left-arm speed and movement to be used more as a weapon of attack. Losing both of them means a major adjustment in the composition of the team. Boland taking the new ball is nothing new in his domestic career, but he has been so effective in Tests coming on after seven to eight overs of initial onslaught. Now he’ll likely have to be the man up front.

Newcomer Confronts Expectations

Behind him will come Brendan Doggett, who at 31 years old himself isn't an intimidated youngster, 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 brought onto the field on a banana lounge and still be anxious.

Register to The Spin

Who knows, it might all go smoothly for this revamped bowling lineup. It might not. What is striking is how quickly Australia have transitioned from the surety of Starc, Lyon, Cummins, Hazlewood to the uncertainty of Starc, Lyon, and others. 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 that match, given how complicated stress injuries can be. It's uncertain how long Hazlewood might be out, with a history of going down early in series and a pattern of initially small injuries turning into longer layoffs.

Outlook Unclear

The latter part of the series may see the primary four bowlers back together and all performing well. Or it might see transition setting in much sooner than the stretch goal of 2027 in the UK. Not through Neser, who is seemingly 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 hurt and has not yet 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. Beyond them lies the true uncertainty, and amid it all opportunity for the visiting team. You can hear that change approaching, coming around the bend, and the English team ain’t seen the success since they can't recall when.