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The historic Ashes series may offer a reason to cheer, but this contest will also witness the Australian team host a greater number of birthdays than Timezone in the 90s. New boy Jake Weatherald had his 31st a day before the team was announced. Nathan Lyon celebrates 38 the day preceding the Test in Perth. Beau Webster reaches 32 just before Brisbane, Usman Khawaja will be 39 on the second day in Adelaide, Josh Hazlewood becomes 35 on the final day in Sydney, and Mitchell Starc will be 36 before January is over.

Ageing Squad Interest Grows

For two or three years there has been growing curiosity with the average age of this side and particularly the bowling attack. It is unusual to have almost every 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 greater age was a disadvantage: a Test squad featuring a four-man attack with 1,568 wickets between them is scarcely a weakness, and it makes sense that all of those bowlers are deep into their professional lives.

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

Perhaps what most amplified the talking point is that the reserve players over that period, 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 injuries, meaning there has been no obvious replacement plan.

Change Forced by Setbacks

So far, that hasn’t mattered, as the core four plus Boland have continued performing. Any team knows that having a group of same-generation players might mean a batch of simultaneous retirements, but so far transition has remained theoretical: a train that would indeed be coming round the mountain when she comes, but one that had not steamed into view.

Now, abruptly, transition is here, forced upon this Aussie team in the span of a few weeks. The spinal issue to Pat Cummins was taken in stride: he would probably only miss the opening match, was the Cricket Australia view, and as the first bowling change behind Starc and Hazlewood, he could comfortably be replaced by Boland.

But now that Hazlewood has gone down with a hamstring injury, the team balance experiences a far greater change with two key bowlers absent rather than one. Cummins and Hazlewood as the two accurate right-arm bowlers give the balance and control that enables 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 side. Boland handling the new ball is nothing new in his domestic career, but he has been so effective in Tests coming on after seven or eight overs of early pressure. 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 overawed youth, but he might become an overawed 31-year-old. A full stadium crowd, partly English, for the first Test of a eagerly awaited Ashes series will not make for an simple first match, no matter how many newspaper profiles describe him as laid-back. He could be wheeled onto the field on a banana lounge and still be nervous.

Register to The Spin

Who knows, it might all go smoothly for this revamped bowling lineup. It might not. What is notable is how quickly Australia have moved from the surety of Starc, Lyon, Cummins, Hazlewood to the unknown of Starc, Lyon, mumble mumble. Who knows what new injuries the first Test may bring. Who knows whether Cummins will be fit for the Brisbane Test, and able to continue after Brisbane, given how tricky stress injuries can be. It's uncertain how long Hazlewood might be sidelined, with a track record of getting injured early in tournaments and a pattern of minor injuries turning into longer layoffs.

Future Unclear

The latter part of the series may see the primary four bowlers back together and all going well. Or it might see transition beginning much sooner than the long-term aim of 2027 in the UK. Not through Neser, who is seemingly the next option and could be a excellent day-night Brisbane choice, but after that with choices uncertain. Sean Abbott was in the original team, though he’s now also injured and has never played a Test. Richardson has just had his injury-prone arm repaired, and this level is no place for easing into one’s work. After them lies the real unknown, and throughout it opportunity for the visiting team. You can sense that train approaching, coming around the bend, and the English team hasn't seen the sunshine since they don’t know when.