The second Ashes Test begins in Adelaide on Friday morning with honours even.

By all accounts England 'won' the opening stalemate at the Gabba but you can't bank good form.

16 months ago in Cardiff Australia battered the home side to the very brink, saw Graham Onions and Monty Panesar hang on for 0-0, and rode that wave into a 115-run defeat at Lord's. Ricky Ponting handed over the urn five weeks later after a 2-1 reverse.

Australia had scored as many runs for six wickets as England did for 18 in the 2009 opener, one ball from victory for an excruciating hour. In the abstract last weekend at Brisbane does not compare. Each side managed only 11 wickets and the match result was safe for a day and change.

If there is a running theme between the first Tests then and now it is Australian indifference. Despite their dominance at Lord's over 75 years they failed to convince after the Welsh disappointment; following the humiliation of Sunday and Monday they are no-one's idea of a top Test team. This is hardly breaking news but for Englishmen the new reality of ordinary Oz takes some getting used to.

This home identity crisis is born out in more selection uncertainty. Ryan Harris and Doug Bollinger have been added to the squad for the Adelaide Oval as Ponting looks for a pace attack with some penetration.

Why two extra seamers? Harris and Bollinger were both cut from the original 17-man squad for Brisbane due to supposed injury doubts but it would be nonsense to call up a player of questionable fitness between back-to-back Tests.

Mitchell Johnson was the man most vulnerable after a grim all-round performance last week (a duck, a dropped dolly and nought for 170) and the axe has now fallen on him; Bollinger should be front of the queue after his surprising omission last Thursday. It would be a like-for-like swap in bowling terms, left-arm balance retained and hopefully a little control added. But Bollinger is a batting rabbit and Johnson a Test centurion so that change on its own would open up the Aussie tail. After being whipped out so easily in Brisbane on day three, that is a concern.

On the other hand Harris has a little substance as a batsman but is an experienced rather than explosive swing bowler. You begin to see why Australia's selectors are doubting themselves.

Almost certainly Marcus North is on his final chance, with Usman Khawaja primed for inclusion next time, while Bollinger should replace Johnson, ICC Cricketer of the Year in 2009 but now mistrusted in a four-man attack. Ponting is a confirmed Harris fan but would he drop Ben Hilfenhaus or Peter Siddle, attack-leader and hat-trick hero in Brisbane respectively?

Changing two of the three seamers but keeping Xavier Doherty would be an admission of desperation, bringing us back to the question: why Harris and Bollinger? Do Australia not even know their best XI?

For England coach Andy Flower, who missed part of the first Test having a life-threatening cancer removed, there will be no team changes.

The biggest issues are Paul Collingwood and Graeme Swann, but both have more than earned the right to one poor Test match. It was inevitable that Australia came at Swann hard with a calculated plan. The manner in which he responds in Adelaide will have a significant influence on the Test and the series.

Collingwood faces replacement with Eoin Morgan in the next 12 months but it will take something drastic to force such action in Australia. There has also been mischievous suggestion that Ajmal Shahzad might replace Steven Finn on account of the Yorkshireman's skid and reverse-swing.

Flower was brutal in dropping Onions for a 'rest' in Johannesburg at the start of the year, so the idea cannot be discounted. But Finn, like Siddle, has six wickets from Brisbane so would be hugely disappointed. England will be happy with how things look and reluctant to take risks.

The Adelaide surface is expected to be flat initially and the boundaries are short. Winning the toss is an advantage but, again, Ashes history offers a note of caution. Of all the humiliations England have suffered in Australia their last visit here was among the worst for the very reason that they batted first and thought they would win - having declared their first innings they were bowled out in 73 overs second time around, losing by six wickets.

Neither side bears much resemblance this time around.

Key Men
Australia: Ricky Ponting. If Australia are indeed doomed then their best batsman will put up the greatest fight. If they are to win it they need their captain to raise his game in tactics, motivation and imagination.

England: Stuart Broad delivered an excellent performance last week for little return. Picked out by various local sages including one Steve Waugh as the tourists' dangerman. A plausible match-winner.

Last Five Head-To-Head Results
2010: 1st Test Match drawn at The Gabba, Brisbane
2009: 5th Test England won by 197 runs at The Oval, London
2009: 4th Test Australia won by an innings and 80 runs at Headingley, Leeds
2009: 3rd Test Match drawn at Edgbaston, Birmingham
2009: 2nd Test England won by 115 runs at Lord's, London

Prediction
Many expect a draw here but the pitch usually deteriorates with a big difference between first- and second-innings totals. England simply look better equipped than Australia if there is to be a positive result.

Probable Teams
Australia: Simon Katich, Shane Watson, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke, Mike Hussey, Marcus North, Brad Haddin, Peter Siddle, Ben Hilfenhaus, Xavier Doherty, Doug Bollinger.

England: Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Ian Bell, Matt Prior, Graeme Swann, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Steven Finn.

Dates: 3-7 December
Morning session: 10.00-12.00 local time (00.00-02.00 GMT)
Afternoon session: 12.40-14.40 local time (02.40-04.40 GMT)
Evening session: 15.00-17.00 local time (05.00-07.00 GMT).

Match Referee: Jeff Crowe
Umpires: Tony Hill, Marais Erasmus; Billy Doctrove

Peter May