Ricky Ponting will know that from the fourth ball of the Test, his team were given an absolute hammering by England in Adelaide. His selectors now have some open heart surgery to conduct before naming the squad for the WACA. Katich is out injured and North, Doherty and Bollinger could all be dropped. A third series loss as captain is looking inevitable at the moment for Ponting.
Here's how the Aussies rated in Adelaide:
Shane Watson – 6: Scored two fifties and again looked in good touch, but he really needs to start converting some of these fifties into hundreds. Bowled tidily. Needs to improve his calling and running between the wickets.
Simon Katich – 4: His dreadful run out for a diamond duck started Australia's slide but he fought hard with the bat second time around. With his achilles ruling him out of the series, has he played his last Test?
Ricky Ponting – 2: A dreadful match for the skipper. A golden duck was followed by a real struggle against Swann in the 2nd innings. This all-time great deserves better than the insipid bowling attack he has at his disposal.
Michael Clarke – 6: Poor run continued in the 1st innings but showed real character in the 2nd even if he rode his luck at times. His dismissal to KP must have hurt nearly as much as Lara Bingle's infidelity.
Michael Hussey - 8: Mr Cricket's renaissance continued as he was out in the nervous nineties for the second Adelaide Ashes Test in a row. Fifty in the second innings gave Australia hope, but will be disappointed with his dismissal on the final morning.
Marcus North - 4: The notorious poor starter got to 20 in both innings, but was unable to press on and he will do well to survive for Perth. Was again Australia's best spinner in the match, but he didn't exactly have much competition.
Brad Haddin - 6: Looked a million dollars with the bat in the 1st innings, but Anderson got him with a beauty second time around. Continues to look fallible with the gloves although he took a wonderful diving catch to finally get Cook out.
Ryan Harris – 6: Was Australia’s best bowler in the Test by a country mile - not difficult admittedly - and bowled with real heart and fire. Not a number eight after his king pair and doubtless not a fan of the Review System either.
Xavier Doherty – 1: Did what he was brought into do by taking Pietersen's wicket. The trouble being that KP had 227 by then and he returned figures of 1/158 from 27 impotent overs. No control, no flight, no guile and no chance of playing Test cricket again. Lucky to get 1.
Peter Siddle – 4: The highs and lows of Test cricket. Six wickets in the 1st innings at Brisbane and 0/211 since. Bowled with his usual heart but looked tired and lacking in quality.
Doug Bollinger – 1: No improvement on Mitchell Johnson. Went at nearly five an over, showed dreadful body language and would have gone wicketless but for Strauss’ misjudgement. The champagne over his recall has gone flat already. Come back Mitchell, all is forgiven.
Where next?
Read all the latest from our Ashes 2010/11 coverage
1st Test: England marks out of 10
1st Test: Australia marks out of 10
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