Mitchell Johnson says “alarm bells are ringing loud and clear” for Australia with their aging bowling attack hit by injuries and “the whole Ashes script is starting to be rewritten” as England aim for a first series win in the country since 2010/11.
Captain Pat Cummins (32) and seamer colleague Josh Hazlewood (34) will miss the first Test at Perth’s Optus Stadium from Friday with respectively back and hamstring problems.
The pair’s likely replacements in the XI are Scott Boland (36) and the uncapped Brendan Doggett (31) with Michael Neser (35) added to the squad following Hazlewood’s setback.
Mitchell Starc (35) – one of Australia’s “big three” pacers with Cummins and Hazlewood – and spinner Nathan Lyon (37) will be the senior members of the attack at Optus Stadium, while all-rounder Cameron Green (26) is the only player in the under-30 squad.
Writing in West Australian newspaper, former Australian quick Johnson said: “When your managers are all in their mid-to-late 30s and have a heavy workload, the odds eventually turn against you.
“While losing Cummins to injury was already a blow, an injury to a fast frontline is manageable. Losing two of the big three starts to rewrite the entire script for the Ashes.
“It narrows Australia’s margin for error and it forces selectors to make decisions they’d hoped they wouldn’t have to make so early. It’s these kinds of scenarios that reveal the age profile of the team more than anything else.
“The alarm bells are now ringing loud and clear about the future. That attack of Lyon, Boland, Starc and Hazlewood are all older than I was when I retired from international cricket.”
Australia’s key bowlers are all over 30, with spinner Nathan Lyon (left) 37
‘Greyhound’ Doggett ‘easy on the eye’
Another former Australian seamer Jason Gillespie has backed Test novice Doggett’s credentials if he steps into the XI.
Doggett would be the third Indigenous men’s player, after Gillespie and Boland, to play Test cricket for the Baggy Greens.
speaks to ABC RadioGillespie said of the paceman: “He’s one of the faster bowlers in Australia. He’s ready to go. He’s got a good motor, he’s a greyhound and is as fit as a fiddle.”
Brendan Doggett is in line to make his Australia debut in the first Ashes Test at Optus Stadium from Friday
Australian journalist Adam Collins added Sky Sports news of Doggett: “He’s been on the fringes for a while and was in a Test squad as far back as 2018.
“It’s only been the last couple of seasons where his Sheffield Shield numbers have been outstanding and he’s forced himself to the front of the queue. It’s never easy in Australian cricket given how many fast bowlers they have at their disposal.
“He’s easy on the eye and glides to the crease, just like [England’s] Gus Atkinson aesthetic. He nips the ball both ways.
“But somebody knows it’s different when you’re out there in a cauldron of a Test match. There will be 55,000 people on day one with all eyes on him. That’s the bit you can’t know until you do it.”
Ashes series in Australia 2025-26
All times Great Britain and Ireland
- First test: Friday 21 November – Tuesday 25 November (02.30) – Optus Stadium, Perth
- Second test (day/night): Thursday 4 December – Monday 8 December (4.30) – The Gabba, Brisbane
- Third test: Wednesday 17 December – Sunday 21 December (12:00) – Adelaide Oval
- Fourth test: Thursday 25 December – Monday 29 December (11.30 p.m) – Melbourne Cricket Ground
- Fifth test: Sunday 4 January – Thursday 8 January (11.30 p.m) – Sydney Cricket Ground