South Africa has won the unwinnable. Australia has lost the unlosable. I went out in the boat on Sunday afternoon, in good faith, trusting the Australian cricket team to wrap up a mere formality and what happened? Actually, I was not that confident. There were worrying signs on Saturday as the runs remaining rapidly dipped below 200, with just 3 wickets down. Well done to South Africa.

Of course, Ricky blames the pitch. For some reason he overlooks the fact that both teams used the same piece of turf.

Smith the Smug will now become even more smug and I have to admit it is with fairly good reason. Australia battled hard all match and were on top after three innings. I think Smith’s second innings hundred turned the match. It was decisive and it laid a great foundation. It’s hard to see the Boks being stopped.

Australia has all the worries in the world. Without a thirty minute burst from Johnson, they would not have been in the match. All the focus seems to be on the bowlers, and for good reason. However, Australia’s batting was not up to scratch either. Hayden must be dumped immediately. He won’t be but the team needs new blood – Australia do not have the luxury to carry Hayden in the unlikely hope that he will return to form. The risks outweigh the benefits. Rogers or Hughes should be given a chance. If it was me, and Australia was the sub-continent, Hughes would be playing in Melbourne. He’s yet too young to know fear and doubt, and that is what Australia needs at the top.

Michael Clarke may be in great form but Australia’s next captain needs to be making the bowlers to get him out. Both he and Symonds were out to brain explosions in BOTH innings. Dear oh dear.

With the bowlers, it’s hard to know who to replace. Even though I doubt he can repeat his heroics, Johnson is safe for another three years but the others… Who do you replace them with? Bollinger may be worth a try. I’m still going to give a push for Katich for captain. Ponting must take some of the responsibility for the loss. A score of over 400 hundred to win a match has been achieved just four times in 130 years of Test cricket. Australia has conceded two of those in the past five years. True, the previous effort was under Steve Waugh and was a dead rubber. However, Waugh had no Midas touch and I’m afraid that has been passed onto Ponting. There are situations where you just have to winkle a wicket. Some instinct, finesse and imagination is needed. Forget the team meetings and the mind numbing analysis. I think many facets of the modern, professional game have killed of the art of winkling.

Merry Christmas.