By Howard Salkow

“Since Federation, the Australian cricket team has not lost four consecutive Ashes series. It’s a day that will go down in infamy” (in reference to being dismissed for 60).

Not that you need reminding, but we are talking about the Australian performance in the fourth cricket Test at Trent Bridge, Nottingham in the UK and the comments and headlines describing Australia’s batting demise.  

It’s not been one of those summers where writers and commentators following the fortunes of Michael Clarke’s Australian cricket team in England have been looking for appropriate superlatives to describe the team’s performance.

Instead, they have stolen phrases from events such as Pearl Harbor, used powerful adjectives and dug deep into the archives to see when a team last played as poorly as this one. Back in the day, bruised, battered and badly beaten teams had to deal with unruly and true-to-the-bone newspaper headlines. Nowadays, there are multiple mediums and social media commentary can turn something awful into believing it’s the end of the world.

Expectedly, the English Press have lapped this up. The Sun ran with the headline: “Throw another wimp on the barbie”, and an English fan produced this sign: “For Sale. Australian cricket bats. Hardly used.” Few missed out on the opportunity to list some telling statistics that will forever live with this team:

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-- Australia’s score (60) was its lowest in an Ashes Test since 1936;

-- The innings lasted just 111 legal deliveries, the quickest demise in Test history;

-- Of those deliveries only eight were on the stumps, meaning Australia’s innings would have lasted longer if they just left every ball;

-- It was only the third time in history a team has been dismissed before lunch on the opening day of a Test match; 

-- It was the first time ‘Extras’ was top scorer in an Ashes innings. There were 14 extras. Mitchell Johnson (13) was the highest scoring batsman;

-- England bowler Stuart Broad took the equal fastest five-wicket haul of all-time; 

-- England took an extraordinary 214-run lead heading into day two: the third biggest advantage ever taken on the opening day of a Test; and

-- England batsman Joe Root’s ton was the first time in Ashes history a second innings batsman has posted three figures on day one.

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At a time like this, it’s fair to question whether this team has the ability to apply the basic fundamentals of the game. Others argue there is too much emphasis on the shorter forms of the game – Twenty20 in particular – where technique is dismissed for six or sticks. Then, of course, there are excuses.

Former Test wicketkeeper Ian Healy has questioned the cohesion of the Aussie dressing room and the presence of wives and girlfriends on tour. “Their hearts might not be that strong,” Healy told Channel 9. “Look at the performance in Edgbaston and Cardiff before that. That was a poor performance and so is this.”

But this from one of the game’s greatest critics and a former English batsman, will hurt but it may be the home truth Australian cricket needs to hear right now.

Writing in The Telegraph, Geoff Boycott has labelled the Aussies as arrogant, claiming they failed to prepare for the northern hemisphere conditions.

“They are so bad it is unbelievable. They do not learn. When I went to Australia to play I knew it would be on hard bouncy pitches so I practised in the nets to replicate the challenge,” Boycott said.

“Australia should have done their homework on the lateral movement you get in England from good seam bowlers such as Stuart Broad and James Anderson.” 

Australians are passionate about cricket and we are hurting right now. The question is for how much longer.