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The coach is under immense pressure, the best XI is utterly unclear and the team is desperately out of form.
In 2013 it was Australia’s Ashes lead-up, culminating in the sacking of coach Mickey Arthur some 16 days before the Test series started.
Now it describes England’s woes, with the retirement of Jonathan Trott the latest issue for a hierarchy to sort out amid the hotchpotch of a batting order and bowling attack.
Inexperience is a major issue – Alastair Cook, Ian Bell, James Anderson and Stuart Broad are the only incumbents to know what it’s like to consistently crush Australia.
Kevin Pietersen could yet join them, but his slim hopes will become all the slimmer if Andrew Strauss is appointed director of English cricket as expected.
Strauss, or whoever is given the remit of turning English cricket around, faces a tough job.
Will selectors pick and stick in the upcoming two-Test series against New Zealand, or ring the changes so close to the Ashes?
It starts at the top – as it did for Australia two years ago when they opted to recall Chris Rogers.
Cook, sacked as ODI captain prior to the World Cup, ended a Test century drought of almost two years in the recent Barbados loss to the West Indies.
Since Strauss retired in 2012, five men have been trialled alongside Cook – Nick Compton, Joe Root, Michael Carberry, Sam Robson and Trott.
Uncapped Yorkshire opener Adam Lyth, part of the squad that drew 1-1 with the West Indies, is likely to be next.
First drop Gary Ballance, Bell and Root are presumably walk-up starters.
None of them are coming off a mountain of runs. All of them will be tested by a potent Black Caps attack.
The most pressing issue is England’s ongoing search for a frontline spinner, following Graeme Swann’s retirement in Melbourne a year and a half ago.
Allrounder Moeen Ali, who opened the batting for England during the World Cup, impressed with the ball in the 2014 home Test series against India.
Moeen’s offspin was nowhere near as threatening in the two Tests he played against the West Indies, with plenty of pundits calling for him to be dropped.
If that transpires, legspinner Adil Rashid could be handed a Test debut or 33-year-old offspinner James Tredwell a recall, while Monty Panesar still feels he has something to offer at the top level.
Broad and Anderson are both capable of inflicting game-changing collapses in a single spell, something Michael Clarke’s men need no reminding of.
Chris Jordan was given three chances to impress in the Caribbean, but the first-change quick was largely ineffectual and is expected to be dropped.
Then there is coach Peter Moores’ lack of job security and the uncertainty over Pietersen.
Australia showed how quickly the wheel can turn, but even Darren Lehmann was unable to engineer a single victory in the UK after taking the reins on short notice.
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