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Much has been made of the age of the Australian team that faces an even more demanding schedule than the Proteas over the next 15 months, which includes their tour to South Africa in September and October. The average age of the starting team for the first Test with Bangladesh, which began in Darwin on Thursday, is 33. Australia will play 20 Tests (and possibly 21 if they qualify for the World Test Championship final), including a pair of five-match series in India and England. Thereafter it’s the World Cup. So it is little wonder there’s been so much talk about their players’ ages. However, Pat Cummins was in typically charming form before the mayhem started. “I feel way too fresh. I’m used to carrying a few niggles,” he joked with the Australian media.Like South Africa, the Australians have had an extended time without serious cricket. A couple of One-Day International tours to Pakistan and Bangladesh in June allowed for some newer players to be tested, but the old gang are back together for what some in Australia are describing as an era-defining period. Perhaps those tours to India and England will be definitive, but the bulk of the group in Darwin, who will also likely tour South Africa, have achieved virtually everything there is to in the international game. In terms of targets for the next 15 months, a first Test series win in India in 22 years by an Australian team would certainly be historic, as would winning an Ashes series on English soil for the first time since 2001. As such, concerns about the bowling unit’s age and as it relates to their fitness are understandable. Last season, only Mitchell Starc was able to complete the Ashes series. Josh Hazlewood didn’t get to the starting line, Pat Cummins played only one Test, Nathan Lyon injured his hamstring in the Adelaide Test and played no part in the rest of that series.Even the back-up bowlers picked for the Bangladesh series aren’t young. Scott Boland is 37, while Michael Neser and Brendan Doggett, who were both impactful in the Ashes, are 36 and 32, respectively, and were ruled out of the Bangladesh Tests with injuries. South Africa, who face Australia in three ODIs first — starting on September 24 — and then three Tests from October 9, won’t be seeing the effects of a tired attack for those series. If anything, Cummins and Co should be primed for a Test series that Hazlewood has said is one of the biggest goals of his career. “I haven’t won in South Africa,” he commented recently. Bangladesh, despite some good results this year, including a series win against Pakistan, shouldn’t cause Australia much stress. The absence of fast bowler Nahid Rana, who shook up the Pakistanis and caused the Australians discomfort in the mid-year ODIs, is a huge blow. It will also hurt the Australian batting line-up, many of whom are under pressure to prove they belong before facing the Proteas and may have appreciated a sterner test, which Rana’s 140km/h pace would have provided. Opener Jake Weatherald, Marnus Labuschagne and Cameron Green are all in need of time at the crease and runs. Shukri Conrad will certainly be watching closely as the Proteas carefully plot their strategies for a big series, the first in South Africa between the teams since the infamous “Sandpaper” tour in 2018.In between assessing Australia and Bangladesh (who will be touring South Africa in November) Conrad will also be keeping a close eye on England, who begin the post-Bazball era against Pakistan next Wednesday. Though their new Test coach, Stephen Fleming, will only be in the job when England travel to South Africa in December, the composition of their starting team, coupled with their approach to playing, offers intrigue.The Proteas begin their season with less strenuous tasks in the limited overs formats in Namibia next week. The majority of the household names, including Test skipper Temba Bavuma, have been omitted and are being carefully managed ahead of a home season that will see South Africa play 20 matches, including eight Tests, in 14 weeks.“Temba’s going to be playing a lot of warm-up games [for the DP World Lions],” said Conrad. “Temba’s big mission, obviously, or rather our big mission, is the ODI series against Australia.”
