Doubts hang over once invincible Australia

The fact that West Indies are providing a serious challenge to Australia in the first Test indicates Australia have lost their aura of invincibility in the past 18 months, according to Alex Brown in the Sydney Morning Herald .

Brydon Coverdale

25-Feb-2013

In a playing sense, the most obvious difference between the current Australian side and that which clinched the Ashes 5-0 two summers ago is the lack of a dominant spinner. Stuart MacGill struggled with injury in two Tests against Sri Lanka, and Brad Hogg was decoded by the Indians after the first Test in Melbourne. Now surgically-repaired and streamlined, MacGill will be heavily scrutinised in the second innings at Sabina Park, where conditions should suit.

The veteran leg-spinner was harshly dealt with in the first innings in Kingston. Dwayne Bravo, in particular, was more than comfortable taking the attack to MacGill, and his two wickets were the result of batsmen looking to attack - his last victim, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, fell attempting to blast a chest-high full-toss out of the ground. With Warne's mooted comeback nothing more than a fanciful dream, the Australians need MacGill to fire like never before.

But there have been other, more subtle, changes to the Australian side as well. As important as Stuart Clark, Phil Jaques and Brad Haddin are to the national cause, they cannot hope to inspire their teammates in the same manner as their immediate predecessors. Which is hardly their fault. McGrath, Warne and Gilchrist were widely regarded as the world's leading exponents of their respective crafts, but only after years of dominance.

Australia

Brydon Coverdale is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. He tweets here