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Cast your minds back to January, if it doesn’t hurt too much. 

A 3-1 loss on home soil to the Old Enemy, with all three losses by an innings – it was the first time that had ever happened in Australian cricket history.

In truth, it had been coming.  Four years earlier, when the legendary Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath Damien Martyn and Justin Langer retired, followed within two years by Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist, the signs were there.

With 20/20 hindsight, it was then that a full review into Australian cricket was required. 

Cricket Australia perhaps should have realised that we’d had it far too good for far too long, and acted before we reached the terrible depths in which we now find ourselves.

Just a few days ago England became the number-one ranked Test nation in the world – something inconceivable as little as five years ago.  And so it is a swapping of roles in a way. 

England has the Midas touch, on top of the world and looking unlikely to weaken through retirements any time soon.

And Australia is looking inwards, sacking coaches and selectors and searching for answers.
So Don Argus, and his panel of former Australian captains Mark Taylor, Allan Border and Steve Waugh made their recommendations, and Cricket Australia has finally wielded the axe.

 “It is, to the best of my knowledge, the most exhaustive, comprehensive examination of Australian cricket ever undertaken,” said Cricket Australia chairman Jack Clarke. 

“We don’t want quick fixes – we want to do this properly.”

There’ll be a new full time chairman of selectors to replace the much-maligned Andrew Hilditch. 

The selection panel will be expanded to five, and includes the new coach and Australian captain Michael Clarke.

Greg Chappell, the National Talent Manager, no longer has a selection role, which will no doubt please some players who were quoted this week as saying “drove us all mad” to the extent he was banned from the dressing room.

Tim Neilsen has been ousted as coach, but he will be invited to reapply for a new head coach role, with more responsibility and more accountability.

The new coach role will oversee all coaching from the national team all the way down to state level, bring a unified approach.

The whole system is to be overseen by a new General manager of Team Performance, for whom a global search is now underway.

It all seems very logical and again the question must be asked – why have we persisted with the old system for so long?

There was no unity between coaching at state level and national level.  There were some baffling selection decisions.  Anyone could see that.

It seems the only flaw in the plan may be the potentially dangerous position of having the captain as a selector?  What happens if Michael Clarke suffers a form slump similar to that of Mark Taylor in 1997?  Will the other four selectors have the temerity to dump the skipper?

In its purest form, Test match cricket is a very simple game.  As much as it pains me to say it, watch England.  They don’t do anything amazing, but they do the basics very well. 

They pitch the ball up and let it swing, and they don’t bowl very many bad balls. When batting they genuinely treat every ball on its merits, dispatching the bad balls only when they’re able. 

They play with patience and a plan.

Two things Australia, sadly, has done too little of in recent years.

After a dominant quarter-of-a-century which will probably never be matched, in which Australia won four World Cups and seven straight Ashes series, the time is now for the next generation, according to Jack Clarke.

“It worries me that there have been lots of players who have been the ‘next big thing’ for a long time, but have never performed,” he said.

With Cricket Australia declaring their goal is to regain the Ashes in two years, and to be the number one Test nation and win the World Cup in four years, that time is now.