Without wanting to be pessimistic though, I really hope this result doesn't gloss over the major problems in the team - yet again. Let's just look at the performances for the 'on notice' players and see what has changed:
These guys aren't just being picked on for a couple of bad games.
Ponting: yeah nice Rick love the win and you had a hand in it. No more than Hughes, or Watson, or Haddin, or Johnson, or Lyon, or obviously Cummins, but you contributed. At the death. With your career hanging by a thread. But it was only a 50, and we needed plenty of more work from others to get the win. Even with that your average this season is the craptacular 17.50. Even Haddin managed more than that and he threw two innings away. That's coming off an average of 31 in SL and 16 in the Ashes which was severely boosted by a meaningless 4th innings 50 on a road in Brisbane long after the Poms had killed the match and no one gave a flying anymore. Against that pile of excrement a 50 doesn't really cut it. I look forward to seeing you in Swisse and Valvoline commercials for a few more years, but not on a Test match pitch.
Johnson: Wow Mitch leading the batting averages - go you. Preferrably all the way back to Perth and stay there. Maybe pop by to bowl to the boys in the nets when they next play a test there. 3 wickets at 85. 1 of those wickets was Amla who threw it away a couple of runs short of winning the 1st test, and then Amla again once he's scored his 2nd ton. You did get Smith early in the first dig so I suppose that's something. Not quite match winning performances though were they. Kinda makes 6 wickets at 52 in SL look half decent (if you don't look too hard), which again makes your 15 @ 37 in the Ashes look almost superhuman. Except we remember how you bowled in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney and you don't seem to have any idea how you bowled as you did in Perth. **** Off.
Haddin: Nice 50 Hadds. Unlike the other two it isn't all about just your own performances. Wade has dynamited the door and you were silly enough to be trying to set fire to it from your side at the same time. Your Ashes (at least to start with) were good, but you just get out too often to shots that look far too casual. At 34 you're just not the best option we have and you never were the out and out ATG that could afford a long lean patch at that age. Thanks, but time for Wade.
Siddle: What can you say about a guy whose bowling figures in 2/3rds of his innings look like binary code? Since Aug 09 he's gone x1x101110x010xxx0010x1x01x0. Just nine out of 27 innings where he has taken more than 1 wicket. Sidds, you're a passenger far too often. We can and should do better.
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