On the face of it, a 5-0 drubbing in a five-match one-day international series looks pretty poor. Add in the fact the defeat was handed out by the oldest of foes and the picture appears ever the darker.
If a bit more context is mixed in – banned players, behavioural issues, an underwhelming run of form – the gloom only deepens.
A batting line-up, despite a few bright spots, which fails to consistently produce and a bowling attack shy of the required standard will never be a recipe for sustained success, and so it proved.
By the time Jos Buttler was applying the finishing touches at Old Trafford to an England triumph, snatched from what surely should have been a consolation Australian victory, the scalpels were already nice and sharp for the inevitable dissection.
In no particular order, some reasons put forward for defeat include the absence of numerous first-choice players, the lack of relevant 50-over experience, the dumbing-down of the domestic competition, a callow captain, and a muddled selectorial approach.
There is certainly something to be said for the first mentioned, the second is no different now to previous years, the third is worth looking at, the fourth is an easy target and the fifth will always be wheeled out when results are poor.
But it is a modern-day trend that the extremes of opinion are far more pronounced than ever before with the spectre of social media loitering like an unshakeable shadow.
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You only to have to take a quick glance at the coverage of the ongoing World Cup in Russia to get an idea of how comment and the narrative veers wildly from any kind of middle ground; what one was bad is now a disgrace and what was good is now great.
Not a new phenomenon by any means but consideration is now taking far more of a back seat. Quite simply, it’s never as bad as is made out and neither is it as good.
And that brings me back to the efforts of the Australians and, to a lesser extent, England.
The former weren’t expected to win and the latter were, so no surprises there; likewise with how the respective line-ups went about their business.
The tourists were relatively inexperienced and that was obvious, the hosts had a clear idea of how they were to go about their business and did exactly that.
But the desire to look a good distance into the future is an itch that pundits just can’t help scratching and that means, with the World Cup 12 months away, England are now favourites and Australia anything but.
Putting patriotism to one side for a moment, Eoin Morgan’s side should fancy their chances and rightly so, but tournament play has never really been an England speciality, and certainly not since reaching the 1992 final, so any excitement should be calmed a fraction.
England’s captain Eoin Morgan (AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade)
Yes they are a completely different outfit to the one who embarrassed themselves in 2015 and they are playing a dynamic game that epitomises the influence of the shortest format, but a better indication of their readiness will come after they have faced India in the next few weeks.
On the flip side, Australia have little in the way of ODI form in recent months but the one thing they do well is show up when there is a significant prize to be claimed.
And can a definitive judgement really be formed of a side minus two of their better batsmen in Steve Smith and David Warner, a decent allrounder in Mitchell Marsh and their three premier seamers in Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins? No need to answer that.
The back-up may not be the strongest but they are hardly the only side with that issue and a schedule-filling, money-making jaunt that probably shouldn’t have existed won’t count for a great deal when the ten-strong line-up gathers next summer.
So there’s no need to get too down and as much necessity to get overly excited.
Now, if you don’t mind, I’m off to watch the football as the 6-1 thrashing of Panama has virtually guaranteed that England will win the World Cup.
Saurebh Gandle
Roar Guru
Here is what Australia Playing XI should be- 1. Aaron Finch (C) 2.David Warner 3. Shaun Marsh 4.Steven Smith 5.Mitch Marsh 6. Glenn Maxwell 7. Tim Paine/Alex Carey 8. Ashton Agar 9.Mitch Starc 10.Pat Cummins 11.Jos Hazelwood 12-Nathan Lyon, 13-AJ Tye, 14- Billy Stanlake, 15-Usman Khawaja, 16- Marcus Stonisis I think Aus are still good .Just Aaron Finch needs to be captain. Billy Stanlake,AJ Tye apart from 3rd match was good.
Roger
Guest
Not the end of the world, sun still came up this morning and it will tomorrow too - plus it's easy to fix. Kawahja to open the batting and bowling plus keep wickets after his spell's over and we win everything...
James
Guest
The difference between the 'full strength' team and this team is 1 win. The full strength team lost 4-1 in Australia to England 6 months ago this team lost 5-0.
James
Guest
Its not the losing its how easy it was for England, the Australians just had no grit.
TheCunningLinguistic
Guest
Carey & Stoinis out for Bancroft & M. Marsh. Depending on form, choose between S. Marsh & Khawaja. NCN can be replaced by Hazlewood, depending on fitness/form.
Perthstayer
Roar Rookie
Prior to this drubbing Australia's W/L ratio going back to the 2016 SL series was under 50%
Krishna Singh
Roar Rookie
Khawaja and finch best openers for me too, we missing trick here
Krishna Singh
Roar Rookie
Khawaja great player nobody has ever denied that, but the issue for him remains that he breaking boundaries by being first sub continent player to play so he always gets less chances then others in team which is unfair
Krishna Singh
Roar Rookie
I like this side, khawaja best at 3, but i would still have paine as keeper.
Krishna Singh
Roar Rookie
Khawaja deserves Chance in One day Intenational for Australia
Tanmoy Kar
Guest
Australia lost the Series which they are not supposed to play with the absence of their six regular players. Probably CA wanted to check the bench strength for the preparation of coming World Cup.
Eddie Otto
Roar Guru
With the current set up you need as many genuine bats as possible. Khawaja is experienced and an established player. Im really surprised he and Aaron Finch are not nailed on as the opening batsman in a side missing Smith and Warner.
DingoGray
Roar Guru
I'm not just talking Khawaja. Tim Paine, the bowling line up. There's quite a bit that they've stuffed up.
Brasstax
Guest
"And can a definitive judgement really be formed of a side minus two of their better batsmen in Steve Smith and David Warner, a decent allrounder in Mitchell Marsh and their three premier seamers in Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins? No need to answer that." Australia have won maybe 2 games out o the last 15 played and were handed down a 4-1 thrashing on home turf featuring all those 5 players and in the earlier games preceding that series. Our ODI side even at the so called full strength is not lash and that is a fact. Things can change between now and the WC, but saying that this defeat is due to absence of regular players is wrong as the results have not been much different even with them playing.
BurgyGreen
Guest
Nah, a 5-0 defeat definitely is that bad. Even a mediocre Australian team would expect to at least pick up a win in a 5 match series against any side. Maybe we'll be better come the World Cup but the problems with this team are deep and will take an incredible turnaround to solve.
George
Guest
As opposed to Australia's all-conquering test side?
Rellum
Guest
Khawaja should be there
Paul
Roar Guru
I doubt there's a true Aussie cricket fan anywhere who will be entirely happy about losing any series to England 5 nil, but I see lots of similarities between the Test side the Poms brought to Australia and the ODI side we took to England. The English Test side was poor in batting and had little going for it in attack, even though they had two of the most experienced bowlers in the world. As a result, the were flogged 4 nil, which could easily have been 5 nil, but for a dodgy Melbourne pitch. Australia went to England with an ODI side missing at least one batsman able to play (Khawaja) and an understrength bowling lineup. We were duly beaten 5 nil but as the author points out, it was not a complete disaster. Selectors, coaches and players all gained insights from this tour and it's clear we have a tonne of work to do if we're going to be competitive in the next WC. It'd equally clear if we can get our combinations right and find a couple of quality ODI spinners, we should have the talent to challenge. Pity the same can't be said for England's Test side.
DingoGray
Roar Guru
Australia didn't help it's cause with it's selections......
Geoff Dustby
Guest
the nevilles we picked in this series arent on a million