This piece assesses Oz's downfall and how we can prevent going the same way

http://bit.ly/ebtsgj

Proteas can learn from fall of play Down Under
Dec 9, 2010 1:23 AM | By FRANK HEYDENRYCH
By every empirical measure, Australia have collapsed as a cricketing power. No1 for decades, they are now No5 and heading for No6 in the world rankings.

South Africans must reflect on the lessons England and Australia have learned. Here are five lessons South African cricket should heed:

* South Africa needs a strong and competitive domestic infrastructure. Australia's has collapsed. It used to be the feeder of the great Australian team, and grade cricket was the feeder for state cricket. Both are fading, a consequence of lifestyle change and competition from other sports.

* Your A team is a benchmark for future strength. Time was when our selectors played around with the A team, picking players who were not on the next taxi out of the rank. The A team is serious stuff. A decade or so ago the Aussie A team was as potent as the Test team. "World" series featured Australia, Australia A and England, and the final was always between the two local teams. A South African A team could feature Jacques Rudolph, Dean Elgar, Andrew Puttick, JP Duminy, Ethy Mbhalati and the like. Is the South African A team strong enough? More importantly, how does the B team look? The Test team is only as good as the pressure it faces from the next XI in line.

* Fire selectors if they are incompetent. There's no doubt Andrew Hilditch and his Australian selection committee are the least competent in the world. There is also no doubt that Geoff Miller has created a settled, dependable and predictable selectorial environment in England's selection committee.

* Plan and plan again, with the right coach and captain in place. England had their Test team settled in July. Australia had theirs settled the day before the first Test. Andrew Strauss programmed Mitchell Johnson's bowling into a new-generation bowling machine and faced it for four months.

* Build succession into the system. Ricky Ponting is out of form, strategically, and tactically inept, and presiding over the worst deterioration of any Australian team. But there is no one to replace the hapless 35-year-old, just as there is no one to replace Simon Katich, whose career ended this weekend.

Can anyone fix Ponting's shambles, and can South Africa ensure it does not go down the same road?