Chris Rattue: Depth of Australia's fall hard to fathom

Ricky Ponting of Australia shows his frustration during the Second Ashes Test match between Australia and England at Adelaide Oval. Photo / Getty Images

Australian cricket's fall is amazing to witness.

A very good, but hardly sensational, English side is tearing them apart with a confident ease. Even the Black Caps would fancy a shot at the Aussies right now, which is saying something.

The Ashes are still there to be won and lost, and Australia - who were also well beaten in India - are not done yet. But their latest era of supremacy, an enduring period of excitement and groundbreaking excellence, is well and truly over.

Okay, so every great club or team will lose their invincibility tag one day. But the manner of Australia's decline, the drastic drop in standards, is staggering.

What evolutionary disaster allowed Xavier Doherty to emerge as a Shane Warne legacy. This is like Phar Lap being involved in developing the pilot for Mr Ed.

As England cruised towards 200 in their first innings at Adelaide, Marcus North lobbed down spinners that would not have looked out of place at Cornwall Park - the barbecue area of Cornwall Park that is.

England, who are plundering the Aussie attack at will, must go on with the job. Too many drawn-out draws will draw a line through test cricket, which is clambering on to a death bed in many places.

England have established such ascendancy through their batting that Australia will struggle to bowl them out twice during any match in this series. The Ashes turnaround over the past six years has been akin to watching a plodder named Buster Douglas pummelling the lethal Mike Tyson 20 years ago.

For 15-odd years prior to the amazing 2005 series, the English barely won a single Ashes game of significance.

Australia's production line of world-class talent invariably possessed almost instant test steel. Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath were exceptional, but the back-ups - especially the quicks - were good enough to lead most other test attacks.

The boot is not only on the other foot, but planted firmly on Australia's throat. As with Tiger Woods, we are all wondering how long the collapse of a colossus will last.

The latest rise of England, bolstered by a few key South Africans, can't be overlooked in assessing the Aussie demise.

James Anderson has again demonstrated the value of quality swing bowling. The English batsmen's faith in sound technique - Kevin Pietersen's bludgeoning excepted - is squashing the life out of the new generation of Aussie bowlers.

How could it go so wrong for Australia?

Most serious crashes have a few contributing factors.

Warne and McGrath were once-in-a-lifetime players. But this does not explain Australia's drop in fielding standards. They spill catches and miss the run-outs that used to turn games. They concede runs through bloopers.

Fatted by endless success, Australia may have lost an edge. The selectors also appear confused, chopping and changing, apparently unable to deal coherently with what, for Australia, ranks as failure.

The umpiring is a very interesting situation.

For years, Australia got the breaks, winning key decisions at home which kept the tide running in their favour. Even the players' reputations, with Warne and McGrath to the fore, may have helped around the world. "Neutral" umpires and the current video appraisal system are far from perfect, but the rough and the smooth balance out.

Maybe Australia's problems are partly cyclical - even powerhouses hit flat patches. Still ...

So this series is there for England to win and thus retain the urn for the first time in yonks.

As for cricket's video review system, this needs reviewing.

At the moment, each side is denied further appeals after two unsuccessful ones in an innings. This is random, unfair, and unprofessional when players' careers and livelihoods are at stake. During the first test in Brisbane, the television commentators put forward a promising alternative whereby the video umpire would be empowered to intercede at any time to correct errors.

In addition, a three-man umpiring team, including the video man, would rotate around sessions to help concentration levels and develop the team officiating concept.

Surely the best system ensures every decision is correct. Giving the video man control may even reduce the stoppage time once the methods are refined. Taking video appeals out of the players' hands will prevent misuse by over-use in an unlimited system.

Cricket umpiring is such a difficult job. Yet new technology - particularly the "hot spot" detector which knows if bat and ball have met - looks virtually foolproof.

Cricket doesn't need protecting from video intrusion the way free-flowing football codes do.

Test matches could tolerate a few more interruptions anyway in the name of raising cricket's legitimacy. The video appeal process is actually quite interesting if not over-used.

Weekend winner

Kevin Pietersen - the swashbuckler put Australia to the sword.

What to watch

The Ashes.