Australia need to take their medicine from South Africa and start again from scratch.
It seems inconceivable that a team could come so close to being crowned the best team in Test cricket yet, in reality, be a world away from where they need to be looking forward to next year’s Ashes.
But that’s the paradox for Australia.
Only a handful of players outside of captain Michael Clarke are guaranteed Ashes selection and, even then, there are some qualifications that need to be made.
Mike Hussey is ultra-reliable and in great form, but he will be 38 by the start of the England campaign.
If fit, Shane Watson and James Pattinson will be there, but that’s a big if.
Peter Siddle is a walk-up and Nathan Lyon appears safe, but the spinner is not yet a game-breaker.
The rest of the squad have a lot to prove.
Australia possess some match-winning pieces, but lack the continuity to be a match-winning team.
At least being schooled by South Africa should prove a blessing in disguise.
Just imagine if Australia had won in Perth.
The back-slapping that comes with being crowed the world’s No.1 team, coupled with Ricky Ponting-fuelled euphoria, could well have masked the deep cracks that lay beneath.
Australia could have carried that goodwill through to the three-Test series against Sri Lanka starting on December 14, and going through the motions would have probably been enough to win.
But after being humiliated by the undisputed best team in cricket, there’s nowhere to hide.
If you were picking a team of the series for argument’s sake, Michael Clarke and Mike Hussey might be the only non-Proteas you would choose.
Clarke and the selectors must urgently address their batting make-up and the maintenance of their fast bowlers.
The chemistry is missing from the Australian top order.
Selectors need to not only find a replacement for Ponting, but quickly decide on which positions batsmen are best suited to.
Clarke, Watson and Dave Warner are at the top of that list.
On his day, Warner is as destructive as Matt Hayden, but can he fire consistently enough to be trusted as an opener?
If he’s so much like Adam Gilchrist, why not try Warner down the order?
Watson’s injuries and inconsistency with the willow mean he’s probably lost the right to choose where he bats, but there’s a strong case to suggest he should get his wish and return to opening.
Ed Cowan deserves more time but he and Warner must learn how to work as a partnership, otherwise at least one of them might feel the axe.
Australia are in desperate need of some top-order stability, and surely the man to provide that is Clarke.
If Phil Hughes or Usman Khawaja are unable to provide a solid foundation as Ponting’s replacement, then Clarke must consider a move to No.3 or 4.
Bowling-wise, Australia have painted themselves into a corner in many ways with a rotation policy dictated by workloads.
If everything is by the book and by the numbers, is there ever any room for common sense to apply?
Siddle’s omission from Perth would suggest not.
It’s true that had Siddle played and broken down at the WACA, selectors would have been criticised.
Managing the health of quicks certainly isn’t easy, and Clarke has insisted Siddle wasn’t fit.
But Australia went into a series-deciding showdown for the No.1 Test ranking with a new-look fast bowling line-up from the previous two Tests.
That seems a far bigger risk than putting faith in a tired but uninjured professional athlete, who happens to be the leader of the attack.
There’s loads of promise in Mitchell Starc, Pattinson, Pat Cummins and the reborn Mitchell Johnson but, again, continuity is needed.
Australia must realise there are vital lessons to be learned from being second best.