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The historic Ashes series may offer one cause for celebration, but this series will also see the Australian team host a greater number of birthdays than Timezone in the 90s. Recent addition Jake Weatherald celebrated his 31st a day prior to the squad was announced. Nathan Lyon celebrates 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 before January is over.

Ageing Team Interest Builds

For a couple of years there has been mounting curiosity with the average age of this team and particularly the bowling unit. It is rare to have nearly all player near a Test team being above thirty, aside from novelty-sized mascot Cameron Green and custody-weekend visitor Sam Konstas. But it wasn't necessarily true that older age was a disadvantage: a Test team boasting 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 careers.

I've never felt this sure at the start of an away Ashes series | a former player

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. Younger bowlers have floated into squads – Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson – before vanishing for years with injuries, meaning there has been no clear line of succession.

Change Forced by Setbacks

So far, that hasn’t mattered, as the core four plus Boland have kept on backing up. Any side knows that having a group of same-generation players might mean a batch of similarly-timed retirements, but so far transition has remained theoretical: a process that would indeed be arriving the mountain when she comes, but one that hadn’t yet become visible.

Now, abruptly, transition is upon them, imposed on this Australian squad in the space of a few weeks. The back injury to Pat Cummins was taken in stride: he would probably only miss the opening match, was the team management assessment, 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 injury, the team balance experiences a much more significant shift with two key bowlers absent 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 speed and movement to be used more as a attacking option. Losing both of them means a fundamental shift in the balance of the team. Boland handling the new ball is nothing new in his domestic career, but he has been so effective in Test matches entering the attack after seven or eight overs of initial onslaught. Now he’ll likely have to be the man up front.

Debutant Faces Pressure

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 packed stadium, half of it 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 relaxed. He could be wheeled onto the field on a banana lounge and still be anxious.

Sign up to The Spin

It's uncertain, it might all go swimmingly for this new attack. It might not work out. What is striking is how quickly Australia have transitioned from the certainty of Starc, Lyon, Cummins, Hazlewood to the unknown of Starc, Lyon, mumble mumble. It's unclear what new injuries the opening match may cause. It's unknown whether Cummins will be fit for Brisbane, and good to back up after Brisbane, given how complicated stress injuries can be. Who knows how long Hazlewood might be sidelined, with a track record of going down early in tournaments and a history of initially small injuries turning into longer layoffs.

Future Uncertain

The back half of the contest may see the primary four bowlers reunited and all performing well. Or it might experience transition setting in much sooner than the long-term aim of 2027 in the UK. Not through Neser, who is apparently next in line and could be a excellent pink-ball Brisbane option, but after that with options uncertain. Sean Abbott was in the initial squad, though he’s now also injured and has not yet played a Test match. Richardson has just had his injury-prone arm put back on, and this level is no place for easing into one’s work. Beyond them lies the true uncertainty, and throughout it opportunity for the opposing side. You can hear that change a-coming, rolling round the bend, and England ain’t seen the sunshine since they don’t know when.