After a period of relative calm, England are suddenly back to churning through incumbents at No3 every bit as quickly as Downing Street does at No10.
Ollie Pope's promotion at the start of last summer had brought stability to what had been a revolving-door position for almost a decade, the Surrey batter's 15 consecutive starts at first-drop providing the longest run of consistency since Jonathan Trott flew home from the Ashes in 2013.
Pope was the 15th man to attempt to fill the post-Trott void, but after his shoulder injury at Lord's, the 16th, Harry Brook, lasted only one innings, leaving England lining up at Old Trafford this morning for a must-win Ashes Test with one of the more unlikely predecessors back in post.
From Test retiree little more than a month ago to a dual role as frontline spinner and top order bat, Moeen Ali has been cast as something of a self-sacrificial lamb in his new role, putting himself forward for the post after recognising that no one else could, or should, or wants to.
That is an interesting state of affairs for what ought to be one of the English game's blue-riband gigs, the puzzle centring as it has for much of the past decade on the fact that Joe Root prefers to bat at four. Go back as far as the 2015 Ashes, and in his newspaper column at the time you will find the current England head coach, Brendon McCullum, weighing in on a contemporary debate after Ian Bell had made a quiet start to the series. "I have said before that I felt Joe Root should be England's No3, but Ian Bell is the next best option," McCullum wrote. Clearly, he feels differently now.
Bell played 118 Tests for England, 28 of them at No3, with fair success in the early and middle parts of his career before returns dwindled when he might have become Trott's permanent successor.
"It's a tough position to bat and ideally you want one of your best players in that role," Bell tells Standard Sport. "But generally, your best player will get asked where he wants to bat and I've got no problems with [Root] at No4, because his record is so good. It was a similar situation when I played, where Kevin Pietersen, one of the best players I played with, wanted to bat at four, didn't want to go to three."
In the context of modern batters, the situation is hardly unique. Steve Smith has opted not to follow in the footsteps of Don Bradman and Ricky Ponting, instead batting, like Root, at four. Virat Kohli does likewise, though the man slated as his successor as the crown prince of Indian cricket, Shubman Gill, has just moved from opener to three at his own request.
It is true, though, that while some factors (facing fresh frontline bowlers, a lack of downtime between fielding and batting) are universal in making No3 a challenging slot the world over, others are amplified by English conditions. According to CricViz, for instance, the average Test No3 arrives at the crease in the 11th over, compared to the 22nd for the average No4, by which point the Dukes ball has often done its most expressive talking.
Playing overseas, the proposition can even become an attractive one. "If you go to India, you want to get in there as quick as you can," Bell, a Betfair ambassador, explains. "Batting in the subcontinent in the middle overs can be difficult, because you're starting against world-class spin from ball one. So, there, you'd rather be at three."
On this occasion, England's crisis looks temporary. Pope, having been made vice-captain, will surely earn an immediate recall once fit and, despite failing to pass 50 in his four innings in this series, still averages 45 since his promotion, the second-best of any regular since Trott. Bell, having coached Brook in the Big Bash, still believes he has the skill and technique to one day succeed up the order if required, too. For now, though, it has been left for Moeen to make do and mend.
