We were thoroughly outplayed by a much better side. My "target" for the series was 2 draws at best - I still think we would have achieved that except the weather let us down (it failed to rain enough)(smirk).

Seriously, I believe the key is in looking at the ages of the players. The Aussies are all relatively mature cricketers who have "served their time" over the years. Look at Brett Lee - he had to wait years before moving up to a full place, by which time he had acquired sufficient mental maturity to last the pace at the highest level. And Symonds. And Stuart Clark ..... etc etc. And those who think they are now in trouble because of losing Warne, McGrath and Langer should think again - they have plenty of experienced talent waiting in the wings.

By contrast, we see a bright young lad in the County game and immediately put him into the Test side, long before he is ready (Mahmoud was there why exactly?). I believe the strain of test cricket is such that a player has a limited number of years before he burns out, so if you start a player too young, he will be burned out by the time he reaches his physical and mental peak. It happened to Thorpe, now to Trescothick, and it looks as though Harmison is in a similar boat.

We also have a penchant for discarding players who don't find immediate success, in the hope that the next bright young thing will achieve. What happened to Robert Key, and a couple of years previously, Nick Knight?

Interestin to note that the other Test side which follows the same principal of playing raw youngsters on rapid turnover is Bangladesh. 'Nuff said?

cheers, Terry