Australian cricket is embroiled in a civil war just over a fortnight before the test team goes into battle against an England side attempting to make Ashes history.
Michael Clarke is spearheading a mission to stop England winning four straight series for the first time since the 1800s.
But heading into the first test in Brisbane on November 21, the skipper could be forgiven for thinking the real enemy is within.
Clarke has found himself at the centre of an internal row triggered by a passage in Ricky Ponting's autobiography, At the Close of Play, critical of his attitude and approach when he was vice-captain. Ponting and Clarke exchanged text messages last week which were supposed to put any simmering tension to bed.
But Clarke's "best friend", Shane Warne, ensured the subsequent innuendo about the Australian dressing room is unlikely to go away.