But 900 runs in Aus is like 1500 in India, so it's all good.
Australia's decline is a classic case of believing in your own hype. They dominated the game comprehensively for two decades and turned a blind eye to how the landscape was changing.
When others were developing mystery spinners, Australian coaches refused to teach doosra in 2009. They believed they can keep churning out a Shane Warne every other year. This is exactly the kind of assumed moral supremacy created the sandpapergate mess. espncricinfo.com/australia/cont…
Australian fast bowlers never really learnt the art of reverse swing bowling. You don't need to if you are Glenn McGrath but you can't hope to produce another human metronome like Glenn. When you fall behinf, you find dubious ways to make the world move.
None of the spinners that came through this academy system that pick and chose could make the cut at international level. They were lucky to find Lyon who was working as a groundsman at one stage.
I heard a story about young Aussie leg spinners who were made to change their action to mimic Shane Warne's. Warne developed his muscles in Aussie rules footie before starting to bowl leg spin. Teenagers did irreparable damage to their shoulders trying to bowl like him.
Absence of crafty bowlers at domestic level means the batsman aren't trained to handle any swing or spin. A young egaer leggie like Smith who developed his own method ended up as their best batsman of this generation.
