Australia appears to have hit the skids after their recent humiliation in India and while the world would indeed be foolish to write off the world champion, the writing is on the wall that the end of a glorious era is around the corner.

For well over a decade, Australia have ruled world cricket with an iron hand but the gap has been closing and the vultures circling to put an end to their dominance which at on stage reached a ridiculous many rungs above the rest.

Australian skipper Ricky Ponting has some serious soul searching to do after his side’s capitulation in India which many quarters unjustly levelled the blame at his leadership deficiencies. At a time when he needed all the help he could get, Ponting faced a veritable firing squad of mostly former Aussie Test captains leaving him bemused and at a loss to understand what he did wrong. Any one and almost everyone knows fully well what a tough assignment it is to win on the sub-continent including his detractors, so it came as a surprise that they all laid into him without being supportive and helping him renew his confidence from an obvious hiccup.

Ponting in his own inimitable style answered his critics by rebounding with a comprehensive belting of the Kiwis in the two Tests recently although many would argue that the New Zealanders these days lack the competitive spirit of a few years ago and are regarded as the mediocre opponents of the modern game.
Retirements of some of the best players to pull on the baggy green clearly signalled the challenge to Australia’s remaining talent to step up and emulate their departed mates. But those shoes have been too big to fill.

In fact players such as Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Steve and Mark Waugh, Damien Martyn, Justin Langer and Adam Gilchrist are names revered for their consistency and brutal aggression. The current mob is sadly only a shade of them.

In fairness to the current squad, what has brought about a change in Australia’s fortunes may be the ICC’s clamp down on on-field aggression and over the top behaviour that the Aussies are notorious for, and this is widely believed to be the defining factor for curbing their natural instincts to gain a psychological advantage through sledging.

India on the other hand cunningly decided to play the Aussies at their own game and while going precariously close to crossing the accepted line themselves, they were able to unsettle Ricky Ponting’s men to an extent where they led them to lose the plot.

Take Gautham Gambier’s action of dealing with Shane Watson’s sledge by deliberately elbowing him in the ribs. That has rarely been sub-continental approaches save for the days of Pakistan firebrand Javed Miandad. But what it did achieve was it sent a clear message to the Australians that India were determined that they will not be bullied any more. The feud began last summer when the Indians toured down under for one of the most controversial tours that had all the trimmings of racial abuse and verbal confrontations that spilled all over the playing field.

The ICC in desperation had to summon its Chief Match Referee Sri Lankan law enforcer Ranjan Madugalle to fly over and douse the raging fires. India returned from that tour vowing to even the score when the Aussies toured the sub-continent because in manyways they could be justified into the thought process that they were robbed of a series win due to many unsavoury circumstances including some shocking umpiring decisions.

Australia has been the epicentre of racist abuse particularly by drunken uneducated fans and almost every team that has played in this country recently, have complained of being racially abused by either players or spectators. With so much evidence of this it is surprising that the ICC have let it go on for so long without remedial action. Many purists believe that the Australian dominance of the top hierarchical positions within the ICC over the past may have been the reason for lax reaction. A change in the guard has brought about sensible thinking.

Australia’s vulnerability will be seriously tested by the South Africans.

Popular belief suggests that the South Africans now rated a close number two in Tests, and who have been tormented by the Aussies both here and at home, are sharpening their knives and eagerly awaiting their kill of the respected but feared enemy.

RICKY PONTING: Down and out?	JACQUES KALLIS: Stoking the fires.

Already the barbs have been flying from the South African camp with world number one all-rounder Jacques Kallis firing the opening salvo by declaring the Aussies beatable and adding that his team are capable of beating them. That should be enough to set off raging fires down under without the help of an anticipated hot summer caused by the acute drought experienced around the country.

Kallis’s broadside at the feared enemy has drawn some criticism at home from former all-rounder Pat Symcox who warned the Proteas about the folly of raising the ire of the wounded Kangaroos.
For all the right reasons this summer will be one of the most closely followed cricket contests because the Aussies are under siege for the first time in many years.

Aussie fans who have ho hummed every tour over the years will find a different view of things as the new look combatants strive to defend their dominance of the world game.

Last year a similar prediction was made, but Sri Lanka who was expected to be the giant killers were humbled and beat a hasty retreat with their tails between their legs.

But the Indians stepped up and took it to the Aussies and though losing the Tests in controversial fashion, bounced back to rout the Aussies in the one-dayers winning the finals 2-0. This set up a spectacular return clash which lived up to all expectations when the Aussies went over to India.

But more importantly it exposed the first crumbling bricks from the previously impregnable Aussie castle.