Australia: Who Is To Blame For This Farce

[jeesh]

I became a fan of the Australian cricket team as an eight year old because of Steve and Mark Waugh. I remember i even wrote an article about the two in Rising Stars of Daily Star. Over the years i became quite a follower of the Aussies. Ashamed to say i even supported them against Bangladesh in the 1999 WC. The wizardry of Warne, the brilliance of McGrath, the fighting spirit of Steve Waugh, the elegance of Mark Waugh, the arrogance of Ponting, the aggression of Gilchrist, the fiery pace of Lee, the stubbornness of Bevan, power of Hayden. Australia totally changed the game of cricket. They even made test cricket more exciting and interesting. There was a point where they adopted a strategy of run rates in excess of 4-4.5 in tests. Any cricket lover even their fierce rivals couldnt stop admiring their style of play. Each of their eleven players were a treat to watch.

But today, its a totally different story. Australia is no longer the dominant team and judging for their recent performance they ll keep slipping down. Aussie fans will contend they can beat anyone at home, but at their current state i believe they ll struggle against England, South Africa at home, and definitely lose away. The team lacks a backbone, lacks fighting spirit, lacks world class spinners, world class batsmen. They may have quality pacers, but most of them too raw to make a difference away from home. If things keep going this way, Australia will continue to slump. No i am not being dramatic, and not being influenced by the India tour. This team is not even near the shadow of the great Australian team of the late 90's and early 2000's. The way India, England, South Africa are developing the Aussies will have a hard time. The last world cup with a decent team they went out in a timid fashion with a reasonably good team. What will happen in the next world cup with this team?

Who is to blame for this debacle? What has brought them down to this level, and how can they fight back to the top? Whats your opinion?