As the mind games began ahead of the Ashes, it was clear which aspect of the Australian team would immediately be brought into sharp focus.
The Australians have been so good at cricket and so used to collecting trophies, the fact that they have been doing it for many years became a talking point in itself. ‘Dad’s Army’ was run-of-the-mill stuff. ‘Saggy Greens’ was a first.
It is true Australia enter the five-match series with one of the oldest squads in recent cricket. Opener Usman Khawaja is 38, stand-in captain Steve Smith is 36, spinner Nathan Lyon is 37, new-ball bowler Scot Boland is 36 and pace spearhead Mitchell Starc is 35.
The next rung is also more than 30 years of age. In fact, only one player – Cameron Green – is in his 20s. They tried to make a Test cricketer out of 20-year-old Sam Konstas but have kept that experiment to the side for now.
That means not a single youngster is being brought in or possibly even coming up the ranks. Maybe it is the pressure of the Ashes which is not allowing Australia’s selectors to throw a novice in at the deep end; still one would think a team needs fresh legs in a five-Test series.
Anyhow, Australia have gone with the tried and tested, or at least those with age and experience. Which means it is now up to the golden generation of Australia’s Test team to push themselves to breaking point, possibly for one last time, before making way for the next batch of players.
Why is it the last time? Simple arithmetic will tell you that this Australian Test group is playing its last Ashes together at home; the next clash against England at home will be in 2029-30.
So, as you survey the battlefield, you see an Australian team that has pedigree. They have retained the Ashes for close to a decade. They are two-time World Test Championship finalists, winning it in 2023. Last year, they finally broke India’s stranglehold on the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, defeating them after four failed attempts home and away. And they are the top-ranked Test team in the current cycle.
The victorious teams of the 2021 T20 World Cup and the 2023 ODI World Cup also included many members of the current Test setup.
Which means this Ashes is not just about the five matches, the first of which starts in Perth on Friday. There is legacy at stake. No senior member of the Australian team would want to hand over the reins of the team to the next set of players having lost the Ashes.
Experience matters
Australia would have been overwhelming favourites if they had all their players available for selection in the first Test. Unfortunately, star captain Pat Cummins is injured, and so is Josh Hazlewood.
What was hoped to be a problem for another day some time next year has landed at the door right now. Australia’s replacement players are also 30 or older. The selectors know they have a problem and the transition phase is likely to be painful.
Still, this is Australia. Steve Smith, who has been named captain in Cummins’s absence, scored four centuries in five Tests at the turn of the year. Travis Head has only one single-digit score in 12 Test innings – and they included some really difficult surfaces in the Caribbean.
Starc is Starc. Seamer Boland might not have age on his side but averages 16 in 14 Tests and 12 at home. Green is one of the few Test quality all-rounders in cricket and has started to bowl at full pace after a long recovery from back injury.
Then there is Lyon – the lone spinner toiling away on hard Australian surfaces and picking up wickets with such regularity, it is stupefying how he is not considered a major threat. How many realise he is approaching 600 Test wickets and is not too far away from 300 wickets at home?
There is exceptional talent and experience in that contingent, although it is not all picture-perfect.
It's personal for Smith
Australia's stand-in captain Smith knows he is in for a rough ride in the opening match. Shots have already been fired from half-way across the world, with former England spinner Monty Panesar urging England fans to remind Smith about the ball-tampering scandal of 2018 that saw him removed from captaincy and resulted in a long period of turmoil in Australian cricket.
When asked about Panesar's comments on Thursday, Smith went on a strange tangent, bringing up Panesar's rather embarrassing appearance at the show 'Celebrity Mastermind' in 2019 where he made a number mistakes answering simple questions. The inference was that there is no need to take the former left-arm spinner's comment seriously, possibly because he did not answer some questions correctly during a TV show.
The fact is, Smith knows what is coming his way from the away contingent. Not only does the middle order batter have to captain a depleted team and lead the way with the bat, he will also have to soak up the snarky remarks that will be directed at him.
It could still all go wrong though; Australia have one too many injuries, England have a serious pace attack and a much younger and dynamic team. But this Australian squad walks past a fabulous trophy collection every day.
The golden generation will guard its treasure until the last man standing.
