The Surfer

This raises disturbing questions about the effectiveness of the Centre of Excellence, the Australian cricket incubator in operation since January 2004 at Allan Border Field in Brisbane, and of Tim Nielsen, who ran it in its first three years before succeeding John Buchanan as national coach, not to mention the judgment of those at Cricket Australia who before the Ashes extended Nielsen's contract for three years.

When Australia's captain was ushered towards the exit on Thursday, he was not just an unsuccessful Australian captain but an anachronism: a tough, brave, single-minded, self-motivated, record-breaking Test batsman with no time for T20 and its artificialities.

Since the Bodyline series only Len Hutton's 1954-55 tourists and those of Mike Brearley in 1978-79, who took on a side devastated by World Series cricket, have won three or more Tests in a series in Australia. Unless the weather interferes, the coach and captain will accept nothing less. This is the match in which they can demonstrate a ruthlessness that despite their considerable achievements, they have yet to demonstrate to the full.

If you look at England then you can see Andrew Strauss going on for three or four years. The team can stay together for a long time and there is no great side for them to be fearful of. There is no gulf in class between No 3 in the world and No 1, which was the case when Australia were far better than anyone else

Clarke deserves his opportunity to prove the doubters wrong. At 29 years old he should be ready for the challenge, even if he is currently averaging only 21 and has inherited a side more inexperienced than any Aussie outfit since Taylor's team of late 1995.

Clarke needs to convince colleagues he can carry a team along with him, has to persuade the public he cares, demonstrate to elders he is sufficiently mature and to all and sundry he can stand his ground against high pace. No one has ever doubted his style. Now is the time for substance.

His chosen media - shooting for magazines and books rather than newspapers - have suited his gentler approach. ''A modern picture editor in a newspaper, all he wants is a really good celebration photograph to put on the front or back page, the bowler with his hands up and mouth open. You go to a Test match and end up with five days of celebration pictures, but you haven't got any narrative. What actually happened? Who took the catches? How?''

Studies of great players underscore his point. Eagar is pleased Steve Waugh likes the image of him batting at Lord's in 1989. It is the second Test, England is yet to capture Waugh's wicket, and here is why: right toes grounded behind the crease, knee on turf as left leg is thrust seemingly halfway down the pitch. Elbow points skyward, eyes are fixed on the ball beneath baggy green cap, bat is angled such that contact sends the ball to ground. Jack Russell awaits the chance that never came; their evening shadows accentuate an image of impenetrable batting perfection.

It was the biggest year in Indian cricket. For the first-time ever, our cricketers were in an unfamiliar position of being the favourites each time they played a Test. Thanks mainly to Laxman, Tendulkar, Khan and Harbhajan, the team did not do its cause any harm by fighting back every time their reputation was at stake

Fourteen years down the road, we’ve no doubt come a long, long way. Hammered in the first Test and put into bat on a green pitch, against a potent pace attack, which includes arguably the best bowler in the world, India have responded in a most inspiring fashion. Deprived of any warm-up games, they’ve adjusted to the conditions and shown the kind of character that one never saw in the ‘90s

England have been stupendous for most of this campaign, for which they prepared meticulously. They did so in assessing the tactics they would need to prevail on Australian pitches and in selecting the players they would need to carry out those tactics. In batting, bowling and fielding they calculated a way they needed to play and for the most they played like it.

Australia developed the bad habits of county cricket it had despised and ridiculed for so long. The states, which appoint delegates to the CA board in a bizarre and lopsided fashion, were recycling modest players to represent them instead of taking a broader long-term view to produce future talent for their country.

The positions of the coach and vice-captain are more problematic. For decades Cricket Australia set the benchmark for sporting administration. Now it seems overstaffed and heavy-handed. The decision taken a few months ago to give Tim Nielsen a three-year contract extension seemed ill-advised. On the day of his removal those responsible ought to go with him.

Cricket accepts video evidence as a gift of the 21st century in the belief that it would be as absurd to ignore it as forswearing the benefits of antibiotics and running water. Fifa, on the other hand, rejects technology even as it enthuses over the possibility of turning the desert enclave of Qatar in a massive air-conditioning plant in order to make the 2022 World Cup possible – either that, or ransacking the traditional schedules of the entire game.