While it was officially a question from former England captain Michael Vaughan to BBC Radio's statistician, his tone confirmed he thought it a rhetorical question.
The effect of the visitors' capitulation in 18.3 overs, the shortest first innings of a Test in history, for 60 was compounded by the response of England. Their score of 4-274 was a truer reflection of the pitch in Nottingham than what had been produced earlier by the Australians, whose top-scorer was, humiliatingly, extras with 14.
All out for 60 - then it got worse - Daily Telegraph
Before lunch, Australia had already been Broadsided.
By stumps their Ashes campaign was all but Rooted.
Australian cricket has spiralled into crisis after arguably the darkest day in Ashes history, as England took an extraordinary 214-run lead heading into day two - the third biggest advantage ever taken on the opening day of a Test.
Was this England cricket's greatest day ever?
There have been some classic Ashes Trent Bridge moments in modern memory, from Gary Pratt running out Ricky Ponting in 2005 to Ashton Agar making a name for himself here two years ago before Jimmy Anderson hauled England home. But there has never been anything quite like this.
This was the day when England, led by the magnificent Stuart Broad, demolished Australia in the time it takes to play a football match before Joe Root put their collapse in context by racing to another sublime century.
It ended, gloriously for England, with Alastair Cook perfectly placed to push for another rapid victory and with one hand firmly gripped on the fabled urn.
Australia's batting techniques were exposed at Trent Bridge... there is a time and a place for attacking cricket but sometimes you just have to score ugly - Daily Mail
Sometimes there is no substitute for carving out ugly runs, and the performance of Australia's batsmen suggested that this is something of a dying art.
Let us be clear: they faced a perfect storm from England of a bad toss to lose, cloud cover, a bit of grass on the wicket, brilliant bowling and some outstanding catching.
But this was not a 60 all out wicket that was some sort of minefield. Australia have got to look at how they played and the reasons behind their techniques being so exposed in conditions that may not be second nature to them.
Aussies worst sporting failure? - Courier Mail
Where does Trent Bridge rank in Aussie sporting failures?
Well, it's hard to go past Greg Norman at the Masters in 1996. There he stood at the first tee on the last day, six shots clear of the field and so close to finally putting his arms through the sleeves of that green jacket with his name on it that he could smell the mothballs in the pocket.
And so could we. Then, sadly for all of us, he started his round. If Australia's batting at Trent Bridge was like watching a train smash, The Shark imploding at Augusta was like riding in the caboose.
What about the men's 4x100m freestyle relay at the London Olympics? It was supposed to be a shoo-in. They were going to win gold with a leg in the air. It was guaranteed. No question about it. How did we know? They told us. And they didn't get a medal of any colour.
Bad, bad, bad, bad.
But in terms of high hopes crushed, clueless performance, humiliation at the hands of the Old Enemy and having to listen to 15,000 gloating, tone-deaf Poms sing their songs for seven hours straight, Day One, Trent Bridge 2015, is right up there.
TIMELINE OF DISASTER
11:06am - Chris Rogers 0 caught Cook, bowled Broad. 1-4
11:09am - Steve Smith 6 caught Root, bowled Broad. 2-10
11:12am - David Warner 0 caught Buttler, bowled Wood. 3-10
11:20am - Shaun Marsh 2 caught Bell, bowled Broad. 4-15
11:28am - Adam Voges 1 caught Stokes, bowled Broad. 5-21
11:39am - Michael Clarke 10 caught Cook, bowled Broad. 6-29
11:54am - Peter Nevill 2 bowled Finn. 7-33
12:11pm - Mitchell Starc 1 caught Root, bowled Broad. 8-46
12.14pm - Mitchell Johnson 13 caught Root, bowled Broad. 9-47
