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Why, why, why? The Ashes in Australia starts next month but instead of trying to recover the urn, it appears that Australian administrators are bypassing the issue.
Having regained the Ashes at home in 2006-07, Australia lost it 1-2 in England in 2009, 1-3 in Australia in 2010-11 and 0-3 in England this August.
To lose it three times in a row is morale-shattering. A fourth loss in a row is incomprehensible.
The last time Australia lost Ashes three times in a row was in 1956, which is 57 years ago.
If they lose this summer, it will be for the first time since 1888 that they will lose the Ashes four times in a row.
The recent 3-0 loss in England should have been a wake-up call for Cricket Australia to start the Sheffield Shield early and give our players practice for the must win Ashes this summer down under.
What happens instead? Ryobi 50-over matches are in progress in Sydney.
Then will start the tour of India next week including one Twenty20 international on October 10 followed by seven One-day Internationals (ODIs) from October 13 to November 2.
Why, why, this non first-class tour to India, I ask?
In which way the Ryobi Cup in Sydney and further ODIs in eight cities of India going to help the selectors in picking a Test team before the first Test starts in Brisbane on November 21?
I was in India two weeks ago and all the talk was on Sachin Tendulkar’s 200th Test appearance.
Will it be in South Africa or against the West Indies in Mumbai (his birthplace) or Kolkata which can accommodate 70,000 spectators?
The forthcoming tour of Australia for a series of ODIs did not receive any space in the Indian newspapers.
The absence of Michael Clarke will make this meaningless series even less rewarding and confidence-shattering.
It was only seven months ago that Australia and India were engaged in a Test series in India where the visitors were white-washed 0-4.
How will Australia under stop-gap captain George Bailey perform in India? Aaron Finch with his aggressive batting and Clint McKay with his hat-trick were behind Australia’s ODI win in England last month.
But India in India is a tough opposition, especially with Clarke unavailable.
Even though India are without their stars of yesterday (names like Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Anil Kumble) they have a confident team led by MS Dhoni and including promising batsmen Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan and effective bowlers Ravichandan Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
I have said it before and will say it again. Forget the diversions (Ryobi one-day Cup, Big Bash T20 League, overseas ODIs) before the all important Ashes and concentrate on Sheffield Shield.
That was the main reason Australia had dominated the international scene for so long.
The Sheffield Shield needs to be the main dish on the menu and not an optional extra.