India vs Australia: 8216;Ramshackle XI selected to masquerade as Oz Test team8217;

8220;You can8217;t fake Test cricket. That was the lesson of Hyderabad. The mismanagement that has gripped Australian cricket came home to roost as the summer of wilfull neglect turned into the autumn of unmitigated disaster,8221; Whateley wrote in his column for News.com.au.

8220;The Ramshackle XI selected to masquerade,as our Test team was the perfect metaphor for the on and off-field approach,opting for shortcuts rather than the patience required to play the long game,8221; he added. 8220;It8217;s increasingly difficult to avoid the conclusion that Cricket Australia didn8217;t adequately heed the lamentable failures identified in the Argus Report,8221; he further wrote.

Whateley added: 8220;Beyond the changes in personnel,the underlying symptoms and ingrained problems are precisely as Argus identified them after the Ashes humiliation of 2010-11.8221; 8220;In a team with precious few leading players,vice-captain Watson doesn8217;t perform at Test level to match his high-paid status. An old style cricketer,utterly confident in his own ability,he8221;s absent as often as he8217;s present,and the dearth of red ball runs is damning,8221; he further wrote. 8221;

Argus this week urged the selectors to 8220;hold their steel8221;. That gate is long rusted. The schemes of John Inverarity and Mickey Arthur change every match.

The selection of bits-and-pieces cricketers for a crucial Test in historically challenging conditions was reprehensible. Chasing the X factor is irresponsible,8221; he added. 8220;There8217;s no shame in losing. There is nothing but scorn in losing like this,and to an opponent that is also deep in transition,8221; he concluded.