He put the home side in touch with three consecutive fours off Shaun Tait and Fulton followed up next over with two slog-swept sixes off Brad Hogg to haul in the required run-rate. The second of Fulton's sixes was caught on the boundary by Cameron White but he was unable to counter the backwards momentum and stepped on the boundary.

White and Hogg, Australia's two spin options, were the most costly as their combined ten overs cost 87 runs. White struggled to find his line and length and Hogg at times bowled too straight and suffered from the late aggression by Fulton and McMillan. Australia's fielding was also sub-par and Phil Jaques' dropped chance on the boundary when McMillan was 5 proved vital.

The loss was Hussey's third from three games as Australia's captain and means South Africa will jump to the No. 1 place in the limited-overs rankings. It is the first time since the current system was introduced in 2002 Australia have fallen from top spot.

Taylor's second ODI century came up with a beautifully-timed off drive that continued his trend of finding the boundary through conventional, low-risk shots. He dispatched White for three consecutive fours through cover and his only six was a cracking pull from a White long-hop.

Most of Taylor's best shots were traditional drives and flicks through the on side. He used Tait's pace against him to help the ball on its way and finished with 16 fours. He departed when he was deceived by a Shane Watson slower ball and skied an attempted slog to Hussey at midwicket. Australia's stand-in captain made the high chance look easy and pumped his fists when he thought the danger man was gone.

But Fulton, who had until then taken a back seat, lifted his game and finished with 76 from 65 balls. Brendon McCullum and Fulton sealed the win after McMillan was caught trying for another boundary.

Michael Hussey's century was not enough to lift Australia to victory © Getty Images

Hussey and Brad Hodge dominated the Australia innings and set what looked like an imposing target. Hodge was stranded just short of a century for the second time in five matches - he finished on 99 against New Zealand at Melbourne two weeks ago - and White bludgeoned a late 42 from 19 balls to help the cause.

Hussey again batted at No. 4 and took full advantage of the short boundaries. He brought up his second limited-overs century with a sensational string of three sixes in four balls off the part-time medium-pace of Lou Vincent.

The hundred took him 81 deliveries and included six sixes and eight fours and despite his high strike-rate he rarely looked like mis-hitting a ball. Hussey picked up the length easily and, especially off the medium-pacers, had no trouble clearing the ropes over the on side. The six to bring up his century was one of his best as he went down on one knee and swept Vincent over midwicket.

Hodge took few chances but scored at better than a run a ball and added 84 in the final 45 deliveries with White. But for the second time in as many games New Zealand's decision to field first paid off and Fleming lifted the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy in his own right for the first time.

yes.... this is their death to world cup

No.The Aussies r undoubtly the best team in the world and this is just a small lean patch.

Yes i think so, besause Australian cricket team thinks that they are above the game of cricket...very arrogant team....

Well, I would still imagine these Australian team formidable at the Caribbean this March/April. As the pundits say 'Form is temporary, but the class is permanent'. I strongly believe while Gilly, Ponting & Symonds return back, this team will find its touch again.

aussies need a bowler like shaun pollock in run control. they need a bowler like fannie de villiers of south africa in first 15 overs.

Bye Bye Ozzie - Bye Bye

I wouldn't say this is the end. I would say this is the beginning of an exciting new phase in cricket... a phase in which other teams believe and know that the Aussies can be thrashed! I;m sure the Aussies will bounce back with even more aggression and determination... wow, I just can't wait for the World Cup!

THE AUSSIES DEFINETELY NEED A SLOW BOWLER LIKE GAVIN LARSEN OF NEWZEALAND. THEY NEED A SPINNER LIKE PAT SYMCOX OF SA.

No not quite; Australia will bounce back, Australia has had the luxury of taking the attack to the other teams but once placed on the recieving end ... Australia don't seem to have an answer as yet... may be due to not enough exposure to the filpside of the coin... You be a fool to right Australia off... they will bounce back most probably with a vengence!!!!

Its too early to say if this is the beginning of the end of Australian dominance - but their bowling is surely a worrying factor. It lacks penetration. Inclusion of MacGrath looks similar to Alan Donald's inclusion in the 2003 world cup and subsequent poor performance.

THE AUSSIES DEFINETELY NEED BOWLERS LIKE SHANE WARNE AND PAUL REIFFEL TO GIVE LESS RUNS/ OVER AND TAKE WICKETS.

You're joking right?

White,Watson,Tait are not good enough with the ball.Aus will have to score 350 everytime to win. Clark should have went to world cup. Still think they will win the world cup though but they will not dominate the next 5 years like they did the last 5. Players coming through are not of the same standard.

aussies definetely need a leader like steven waugh. they also need bowlers like IAN HARVEY TO BOWL YORKERS.

Well, why cant the administrators understand that such flat tracks hardly make for interesting/entertaining cricket. Yeah, the masses like it, but real fans like to see a competition between the bat/ball. I still think the Aussies had better bowling/batting resources and on a more competitive track, they *will* beat the Kiwis 8/10 times, despite Shane Bond. So, I dont necessarily think the era has come to an end.

aussies need planning, and control boundries.

I wish it, but they are very good in bouncing bank also maintaining stability. It won't be a downfall, might it may help them to focus more.

Let's not get carried away about Australia's recent run of one-day losses being 'the beginning of the end'. In effect the losses have been sustained by their injury depleted second string eleven - in much the same way that England's recent 5-0 test defeat was suffered by their significantly depleted side!

Perhaps, the lack of experience showed today. A catch here, a better throw there, that might have been the margin of difference. But then, in the past two years, Australia has lost games after making huge scores. Is this an ominous sign for things ahead for Australia in the World Cup? Maybe. Everything does end! Even world Cup wins.

Yes indeed it is the slump of a great boom which Australian team had over a period of time Which began after beating Pakistan in the World cup99 final .No one should be surprise to see if Australia does'nt win the world cup07 .

You never know......but then itss really euphoric to see aussies ripped apart in this fashion.

This is definetly NOT the end of the Aussies great run. We will have to wait until the Australia-South Africa clash in the world cup to say for sure. Also, people have forgotten that ponting, gilchrist and symonds are not in the team. They have a huge impact on how the team performs. Sadly Australia will most likely be lifting the trophy come April 28.

Comment was that the Australian World Cup bowling was dominated...No-One mentioned the Kiwi bowling being dominated by a non Auatralian World Cup batting line up!....maybe it was a 400 run track!!

HOPE SO!!!!!!!!

Australia are definately the superior side obviously they would lose if they dont have inspirational captain ponting.Australia's downfall is pakistans as well as they are in danger of slumping to the 4th spot

for these losess, they will come in strong position in world cup,,based against team performances....let c hahahahah !!!!1

i think all Australians should realize now that they have to score between 200 and 300 in order to win the match. they cannot afford below 200 and over 300 runs in a one day match. There bowling is the worst in ODI's today perhaps.

It is said that Alexander the Great wept after running out of countries to conquer. A moan in a similar vein was raised recently by the Aussies who wanted tougher competition after giving a hiding to the English team in the Testa & ODIs. But shortly thereafter, the tables were turned by the English and now the Kiwis too have followed suit. Evidently there is some truth in the old saying –Be careful what you wish for !

bout time they lost some of their arrogance or is that beaten out of them yes its a weakened team without ponting and a couple others but geez N.Z has played damned wekk in the last 2 games and they are still rep'in their country so all in all its nice to see them get done by 10 wickets and chased down in a big run chase

WOOOOOW.....kIWI done a gr8 job.... Its the end of Ausies.. not going to be easy 4 ausies in the worldcup..........

This is not the end for Australia, it is the beginning for all who play against the A or is that B side. This result positively serves to all that even when it seems a road to far you can always overcome the opisition Bring on the World Cup. PS Don't epect to see Simonds or Lee liveling up themselves in the Caribeen.

Funny thing is that I seem to remember that the Aussies used to say that even their 2nd string team could beat any other team in the world.....maybe the wheels are beginning to wear thin on all their older players....????

I don't think so. To presume that Australians are slipping would be just day dreaming. They are short of their regular but vital players and not short of confidence. Their recent form is just a mirage. They are the team that raises the bar when it matters the most. And World Cup matters the most for them!

Australia will continue to lose with Watson in the side.He is useless and it is no coincidence that they have lost their last 4 games since he has come back into the side. White isn't that much better but at least he can bat at the end of the innings.I hope Australia lose the World Cup just to prove the point that Watson should never ever be selected again.Why would you continue to select someone who cannot bat or bowl?

Yes The shine of the Aussies is tarnished. Don`t expect an immediate change. The world is looking for the next champ.

some people wrote off the test team as well after their loss in the ashes no one in their right mind would right off aus.once they have their regular team back our winning ways will be back to usual(thats not arrogance ,history proves that it is fact)

You never no in the game of cricket >Specially for the aussies.But every Good team have a BAD time

Yes.....I wish.

Those who live by mental disintegration die by mental disintegration...

I think Australia can still bounce back in ODI's but I am quite sure about their test strength ha sreally been curtailed after the successive retirements of warne, mcgrath, martyn & langer & very soon hyden had to go because of poor batting form. Anyway my team is South Africa at the moment but world cup will be won by either Pakistan or India on carribean pitches.
coming back to australia , I conclude here my remarks by saying yes its the begining of a decline.

They are going to battle after losing 4 matches in succession. They have matches aginst Scotland and another minnow, the name escapes me. If they play poorly against these teams God help us!!

Serves right for the arrogant team. Their down slide has started

aussies always a good team,,and their downfall is start ... after shan and macgra,, they are in Q of other teams ,,,,, on bad day ,, they can be defeated ...

I live in Australia and have watched these champions play for over 10 seasons. All this lean trot means is that the World Cup is no longer a one horse race. A few months ago we were all wondering who other than Australia could win the World Cup, and we had no answers. There are many possible answers now, with good reason, many teams are peaking and finding form, not only New Zealand and England who actually beat Australia. This is not to say Australia won't win the cup, only that when the Super Eight and Semi finals come around, anything can happen. I am confident that Australia will still make the semi finals, but on the other hand, I think there is little chance of them going through the tournament undefeated like four years ago. They are still the best team in the World, despite the recent ICC rankings putting South Africa 1st. All this slump has done, is add spice to what should be an awesome World Cup. I can't wait!

I really feel this is end of australia's dominance in this form of the game.They are really struggling in all departments.thier batting do not have the depth it used to had.opponents smash their bowlers of late with our any mercy(take today's match as an example,i mean NZ chased 336 quite comfortably) captain started showing frustruation while fielding(all of you must have seen when England was going to win in the second final) and the distance between other teams has reduced significantly.So I will be greatly surprised as well as disappointed if they make it into the world cup semi final alongwith India,South Africa and New Zealand.

I think the selectors have a lot to blame for the reason the Aussie are struggling. White and Watson can’t bowl and rarely makes runs; both shouldn’t be playing for Australia and am not sure why the selectors think they are good enough to be in the side. Having Ponting , Gilchrist and Symonds out of the side doesn’t help our cause and lets face it the team New Zealand are beating at the moment is no where near our best side.

no not yet, i don't think the aussies are on the way down, i think other teams are on the way up, 5 games ago the aussies were odds on for the world cup, like to see the odds now just because they've lost a few games.
form is temporary. class is permenant....

Hi everybody
I'm extremely happy for the efforts put by Newzeealand and England in the recent games. I think Australians just lost their way. May its a combination of overconfidence and some bad executions. But its good for cricket if there is more rotation and more competetion for the top position. Lets hope for some more drama in the world cup.

it might be the end of their dominating reign in world cricket... but still they r difficult side 2 beat...and may be successful in winning the world cup...

Not centainly. But surely they lose confidence before the world cup. As some of the key players are not in the side , it is affected their game.
Due this remaining team gains cofidence after losing 5 games in row.

I think Australia lost their way .. I think the creadit goes to Steven Fleming , he is not allowing the Aussis to dominate ...

charlie who are you kidding this IS the best attack the west island has to offer. as far as you batting goes ponting is bonds bunny, lee is past his use by date only symonds has any fight when it comes to a big game.

Prediction - Australia not to make the semis
England to win NZ second

I think we have to wait & see before issuing final verdict but I can feel that the time has come now that aussies are gone brought down by others

Cricket is a game of adjustments. I am sure that Australia would rather loose before the world cup to make the necessary adjusments. Australia reminds of Yankees where they have a love-hate relationship with fans. I am sure they will bounce back in the world cup.

its a beginning of entertaining phase in field of cricket........

arrogance has been confused with self confidence. the big prize will be determined in 2 months and australia will be one team in the final . Who will be good enough to challenge?

Aussies deserve tb bashed. Too arrogant. Remember comments by coach: We can not get a challenge because opposition is too weak!.

Ohhhhhhhhhh!!!! wat a win 4 newzealand!!!!!
The aussies r down in cofidence after the 2 back 2 back series losses.Dis is certainly d "BEGINNING OF THE DOWNFALL" of australia.Dey r now not certainly in d race 4 d world cup.

They need bowler like Pollock or Asif. Mcgrath is old and Brett is formless. So they should concentrate on bowlimg. Their batting is still same and somewhat better than Steve waugh's team with Hussey in Bevan and Hodge coming very well and Clarke also.

we r discussing team performance wihout ponting, symonds,bret lee,Gichrist, michel clarke. The depleted side is likely to take a beating. this is a wake up call.

i think australian team is still no. 1 contender of coming world cup in caribbean. they got finest series of batsmen and bowlers however they are not enough lucky these days. but i know they will be coming back strongly in this world cup. they are still king of the game cricket.

Underestimate them at your peril, but yes. Australia have depended a great deal on the fear factor and sides going onto the pitch expecting to lose. They made a great effort in the Ashes series and that seems to have been one push too far. The signs were there in the early stages of the CB series where they escaped time and again due to cowed opponents not believing that they could win. That air of invincibility is disappearing. Buchanan made a terrible, crass error by insulting Australia's opponents in the CB series. Since asking for his side to be stretched a bit they have lost 5 matches.

Sides like India, Pakistan and the West Indies who have suffered at Australian hands will also want a bite because they think that Australia are vulnerable. There are injury question marks about several players and it will be very hard for Australia to get their momentum back, especially as they are in a weak group in the World Cup and have only two very soft games to prepare them for the big match against South Africa.

beginning of the end of Australian Dominance! Well done NZ and Eng.

Missing Gilchrist, Ponting, Clarke, Lee, Symonds... and a bad selection by leaving out Stuart Clark.

Australia might not win the World Cup this year, but they will certainly play better in the Carribean than they are showing in New Zealand at the moment.

To say it is the beginning of the end is a very premature assumption. Ask that question after the 2007-2008 Summer in Australia. Anybody who follows Australian Domestic cricket will know Australia's depth in all areas is far superior to any other country's in the world.

I think the aussies will win the world cup because these losses bring them to reality of not losing to anybody. The surprise factor is gone now.

All i can say is: Austs time of being world champs is over ! World Domination will come from Either South Africa Or New Zealand! But i wouldnt right of Sri Lanka or India. Cricket from now on will see the end of Australia and their Reputation of "winning" Its now 07 furture cricket will be more exciting!

Basically i can say without doubt. Aust Wont Win the World Cup!

All champion teams eventually topple. Complacency and poor planning eventually take their toll. The hunger is no longer amongst the old guard and newly promoted players are not in the same league. Welcome back to the field, Australia.

Unfortunately the Aussies are being un done by some stupid selections. The infatuation the selectors have with Watson is unbelievable. Others who should not be in the team, Hayden, Jacques, Hogg to name a couple.

It is also true that any side with players the calibre of Ponting, Symonds, Lee, Gilchrist, Clark missing is going to struggle.

Time for an overhaul of the whole team I would say and pension off those old blokes running around taking up space.

I think that unless Australia bounce back with their fortitude to decisively win a contest .............. then they are a well and truly a beaten team.

it has once again been proved that cricket is a game of glorious uncertainities.......... well this may not mark the begining of an end....... but the 4 consecutive defeats hav proved that any team is beatable........

One or two swallows do not herald a summer!
The only point proven by the Aussie hiccups is that no unit comprised of fallible human beings can be invincible. However the Aussie is always most inspired with his back to the wall and a fightback to reinstate themselves as uncrowned monarchs is just round the corner. Beware of the wounded Aussie!!

No! No! It’s not like that. When Aussies has lost the Ashes in 2005 same apprehensions were expressed. These Aussies will definitely re-group and bounce back in the World Cup. Any body who thinks that it’s their downfall is not correct

May be this is the end of their talents. I would say that coming days more talents will emerge from other countries, where cricket are going globally and commercially taking place. Wait for the next great team. We can not judge now only. Coming World Cup may see lot of Intresting things happen. This World Cup have chance of Winnings are New Zealand, South Africa, India and Australia.

Get rid of hogg, he can't even get a game for Western Australia. Let us not forget that Australia was without 4 of the top ten ICC ranked batsmen. Does anyone remember the last World cup, batsmen won it, not bowlers

kAustralia are losing now, but still I think they are the favourites to get the World Cup. It's in their genes to never give up.

Thanks for the analysis guys :).

I think that we're going into March with the chance that Australia won't win the cup. The first point of note is that when you remove five very key players from the possible 1st XI, the players called to fill in are at times not up to scratch. The second is that the lineup is not settled coming out of the tri-series and the games against New Zealand. Thirdly, some of the managerial decisions have been odd to say the least. Lastly, our bowling attack is lacking a consistent high quality spinner.

It has become evident from the most recent games between New Zealand and Australia that their replacements have lacked the abilities of the replaced. Granted that players such as Adam Gilchrist, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke, Andrew Symonds and Brett Lee are going to be hard to replace, but on the other hand Australia has boasted about being able to field two 1st XI sides that are capable of taking on the world. Players such as Brad Haddin, Phil Jaques, Shane Watson and Cameron White have had a chance to show their ability on the international stage, especially in Australia, but beyond Australia, in conditions that are unfamiliar to them, that they have not yet been able to produce a performance that would have meant an automatic inclusion into the starting XI ahead of the status quo players in terms of their overall ability. If anything, it has shown how important that those that they have replaced have been to the team in terms of what these individuals bring to the game, in terms of their batting ability, bowling finesse and fielding prowess.

However, this is not to say that these players are poor cricketers, as they are not. The problem is more a lack of exposure and time to prepare properly to tackle an international side. Haddin and Jaques are prime examples of this, both having not recently played in the Australian team and then suddenly called into the Australian side. White and Watson are the other end of the coin, having played but not having had much cricketing time to ply their wares. The only player that has come into the one-day side that has had some success has been Brad Hodge, but there is an inherent difference between Hodge and the other four players. Hodge has a single role to fulfil, and that is bat in the middle order. Three of the other four have dual purposes to their inclusion (either bat/bowl or bat/wicketkeep). In particular, White and Watson have either not bowled well enough, or they’ve not had the opportunity to (White getting very few overs during the tri-series, Watson bowling poorly during the tri-series finals). Given that the series against New Zealand was going to be the final tournament in the lead-up to the World Cup, and given the relative ease in how Australia qualified for the tri-series finals (as they qualified with four games to spare), it would have been prudent to field the full strength XI in New Zealand to allow the team time to really meld into a proper fighting force, and use the remaining four games of the tri-series to trial and blood as many players that are contenders for the 1st XI. Many have said that genuine competition and experience at the highest level cannot be replicated, and despite the early games of the tri-series being one-sided, it wasn’t because of the lack of ability of the players (as other teams playing New Zealand and England have shown). Giving new players the chance to play would have allowed other players to rest and recuperate, and provide a better lead-up to the World Cup.

This issue then highlights some of the unusual decisions that have been made regarding the Australian team. The first, regarding how the team is not at full strength going to New Zealand, I have dealt with from a team perspective, but it also reeks of arrogance that the Australian selectors and team believed that they could send an understrength team to beat the New Zealanders on their own turf. Australia deserved to be beaten soundly for this decision. The second has been the rushed return of Shane Watson into the side when he has clearly lacked match time and practice, and the placement of him so low in the batting order. His bowling has improved since his re-inclusion, but his batting is too orthodox and not inventive enough to be batting at anything below second drop. The experiment with him opening the batting is still a question mark as well. What batting him at seven tells the average viewer is that he is in the side as a bowling all-rounder, and truth be told, right now he is not at his peak to warrant an inclusion. The same problem goes for Brad Hogg, who was brought back into the side with little match time and bowling that has been a shadow of his 2003 bowling antics. The same problem applies to Cameron White, who must feel hard done by given that he played most of the tri-series only to be discarded for the finals. Granted, his leg-spin bowling has, in the opinion of some, will not evolve beyond what he has now, but if he was included as a batting allrounder then he should at least be given a chance to bowl a significant number of overs. However, he had been denied this, although sometimes with good reason – especially when he was conceding up to seven an over. The third has been the injuries, which have their roots in bad management of players to ensure that players do get some rest time. In this, the use of the tri-series was not maximized to ensure that players get some time off to rest their bodies. Furthermore, considering the amount of cricket played by the Australian team since the middle of 2006, management should have looked at the far reaching consequences if one or two players were to be injured. Lastly is the work ethic that was promoted by the coach, John Buchanan. While having been a significant influence on cricket coaching and improving the overall fitness of the Australian team, it has to be said that some of the workload that he is expecting from the Australian team may be pushing them too hard. While the objective is to peak at the right time (that is the World Cup) the inherent risk of such a tactic may spectacularly backfire.

The last issue is one that will plague Australia in the next 12 – 24 months, and this is the question of a consistent high quality spinner in the same mould as Shane Warne. Brad Hogg has played this role in the one-day game, but his recent appearances and performance has been seriously lacking, taking very few wickets and conceding many runs. He is well out of match practice and needs more time in the middle bowling, but in reality he has not looked half as threatening as he did four years ago. Beyond him, Cameron White has, in the opinion of some commentators, reached the limits of his spin bowling because of his inability to change his wrist angle. The other possible contenders for this position (Dan Cullen, Cullen Bailey, Beau Casson, Stuart MacGill) are either not ready for the place (in the case of Cullen and Bailey) or have had poor domestic seasons which have hurt their chances (Casson and MacGill). While Australia have utilized Symonds and Clarke, both are not full-time spinners, Symonds has an injury cloud over him and may not even play, and Clarke has an ongoing problem with his back that is aggravated by a heavy bowling workload. Compared to other possible finalists, who are fielding up to two noteworthy spinners, Australia is fielding one. Even New Zealand is taking two. This is indicative of the lack of depth in spin bowling within Australia at this stage that would be comfortably competing at the international level.

Having said this, write off Australia at your peril. Their road to the World Cup may be littered with lost trophies, but Australia is a giant that you would ignore at your peril.

Australia are best at home. People often knock teams like India, England for only playing well at home, but Australia also suffer from this problem. When they play on a slow pitch, or one with movement, they can struggle. I wonder how the pitches in the Caribbean will play?

The Aussies will always be strong with their best players but I think they will miss Lee and Symonds a lot during the cup.

Is Australia not even allowed a slump?
I believe the public expect to much of them...and rightfully so. They'll return to form faster than you think.

I think Australia's downslide has just started.It's only the beginning.We may witness more like this in the days to come. Gilcrist , Hayden, Ponting , McGrath are all in their last years of cricket.Now that Symonds ,Clarke,Brett Lee are injured and McGrath is out of form any of the top 8 teams can think of beating Australia which used to be a dream previously. SA deserve to be no. 1 because of their magnificient fielding and superb bowling.

I think people are unnecssarily making a big deal about Australia's performance in the last few matches. Let us not forget that Australia is playing without five of their key players, as well as under new leadership. These players will very likely return for the world cup matches. Needless to say, Australia is still an excellent team. Having a few bad days does not change a team - just like having a few good matches does not make you a good team.

The key thing to remember is that teams like Australia, SA, focus a lot on the basics - rotating the strike, converting the 1's into 2's, good fielding practises, improving catching/throwing at the stumps, bowling a consistent good line/length, restricting the number of extras and the 100 other small things which play a role in the making of a successful team.

I still believe that Australians have the best shot at the WC. They will def. reach the semi-final round. From there on, it is the equivalent of sudden death in soccer and on any given day, you can never predict who will and who will not perform.

The Aussies biggest problem is there bowling, and despite Lee getting an injury, its their own fault anyway. They have rotated their bowlers WAY too much and nobody is getting any consistancy. They will though, because even though they play Scotland and the netherlands in their first 2 world cup games, they will win them easily and regain their confidence.
Who cares about right now...they STILL have the best team in the world. Most of their Domestic state teams would whip the majority of world teams. Once they settle on a "stable team" they will be back to their best, but for god's sake...will they STOP rotating bowlers so damn much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes and No. I mean, Australia may regain the no. 1 spot, but they have to work twice as hard to do so. While it may not have everything to do with their current form, it has to be realized that cricket is a mind game. Other teams will now have more confidence in being able to beat them. Australia has to counter this aspect apart from playing better than the rest.

Definitely not! Aussies have a wonderful and systemic approach to this game, as we have known so far, and this is just a blip in the radar and not a harbinger of more defeats to follow. It is only that the law of averages has caught up with them and this would serve as a wake up call before Cricket's most important tournament. They will re-group and show the world (yet again) what they are made up of. We will definitely see them in full flow during the world cup.

I firmly believe that Australia are still the best cricket team in the world and the present loss of form is just a "passing shower" which will be over soon. They will surely be back in top form during the world cup, when it matters most.