Who would have anticipated that?And who could have predicted the continuing disastrous batting form of Matt Prior, who, in case we forget, was only a year ago being regarded as the most accomplished wicketkeeper-batsman England have produced. The game appears to conspire sometimes. Yet here we are, with four matches to play and for many the series almost appears to be over already. England were very heavily beaten and left Brisbane in no small amount of disarray.The Australian media has clambered in and cranked up the hyperbole to ludicrous levels, overcome perhaps by the excitement of finally discovering what it is like to win a Test. But then again, it is even more unusual for England to experience losing.Sometimes too, the evolution of a team occurs not through any great intuition but through simple happenstance. Change comes about because it has to. Alastair Cook first gained a place through illness to Marcus Trescothick, made a hundred on debut and will be playing his 99th match this week. Andrew Strauss got a game because Michael Vaughan's knee went, and made a century on debut.
Trott played only because Ravi Bopara, first choice for that 2009 Ashes series, had such a poor time, and he too marked his debut with a hundred, as did Prior against West Indies.The team England pick for the Adelaide Test may not be the one that Andy Flower had in mind when the team left England, but for Ballance, Ben Stokes or Jonny Bairstow, or whoever, there are opportunities. The order, as another lyrical writer said, is rapidly changing.Cheteshwar Pujara is the best-placed Indian batsman at sixth with Virat Kohli following him at a distant 20th spot.In the bowlers' list, R Ashwin is fifth, followed by Pragyan Ojha at ninth.Meanwhile, New Zealand and the West Indies will begin their contest in a three-Test series from December 3 in Dunedin with an aim to improve their ratings points in the team standings, the ICC said in a statement.West Indies enter the series in sixth position on 95 ratings points, while New Zealand start off in eighth place with 75 ratings points.