Mitchell Johnson says the “alarm bells are ringing loud and clear” for Australia with their ageing bowling attack hit by injures and that the “whole Ashes script is starting to be rewritten” as England target a first series win in the country since 2010/11.
Captain Pat Cummins (32) and fellow seamer Josh Hazlewood (34) will miss the first Test at Perth’s Optus Stadium from Friday with back and hamstring issues respectively.
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 squad under 30.
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Sky Sports’ Michael Atherton reacts to the news that England’s Mark Wood is set to be fit for the first Ashes Test but Australia’s Hazlewood has been ruled out
Writing in the West Australian newspaper, former Australia quick Johnson said: “When your leaders are all in their mid-to-late 30s and have heavy workloads banked, the odds eventually turn on you.
“While losing Cummins to injury was already a blow, one injury to a frontline quick is manageable. Losing two out of the big three starts to rewrite the whole script for the Ashes.
“It narrows Australia’s margin for error and it forces selectors into decisions they’d hoped they wouldn’t have to make this early. It’s the sort of scenario that exposes the age profile of the squad more than anything else.
“The alarm bells are now ringing loud and clear regarding 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 years of age, with spinner Nathan Lyon (left) 37
‘Greyhound’ Doggett ‘easy on the eye’
Another ex-Australia seamer Jason Gillespie has backed the credentials of Test novice Doggett should he step into the XI.
Doggett would be the third indigenous men’s player, after Gillespie and Boland, to play Test cricket for the Baggy Greens.
Speaking to ABC Radio, Gillespie said of the paceman: “He’s one of the quicker 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 to Sky Sports News of Doggett: “He has been on the fringes for a while and was in a Test squad as far back as 2018.
“It is only the last couple of seasons where his Sheffield Shield numbers have been outstanding and and he has forced himself to the front of the queue. That is never easy in Australian cricket given how many fast bowlers they have at their disposal.
“He is easy on the eye and glides to the crease, similar to [England’s] Gus Atkinson aesthetically. He nibbles the ball both ways.
“But anyone knows that it is different when you are out there in a cauldron of a Test match. There will be 55,000 people in on day one with all eyes on him. That is the bit you can’t know until you do it.”
Ashes series in Australia 2025-26
All times UK and Ireland
- First Test: Friday November 21 – Tuesday November 25 (2.30am) – Optus Stadium, Perth
- Second Test (day/night): Thursday December 4 – Monday December 8 (4.30am) – The Gabba, Brisbane
- Third Test: Wednesday December 17 – Sunday December 21 (12am) – Adelaide Oval
- Fourth Test: Thursday December 25 – Monday December 29 (11.30pm) – Melbourne Cricket Ground
- Fifth Test: Sunday January 4 – Thursday January 8 (11.30pm) – Sydney Cricket Ground
