Well: hasn’t this test at Lords turned into a …. well words escape me as to what this test match has turned into for Australian fans. To say that I, as an Australian fan, am frustrated would be an understatement. The fact is that Australia has been outplayed in absolutely every aspect of this game, perhaps with the exception of the bowling of Ryan Harris in the first innings. In addition to that fact is the fact that this is the outcome that just about everyone except for the most diehard of Australian fans expected.

It leads to this uncomfortable notion being forced down the throats of those of us who love cricket in this country: England are simply better than us at the moment. Not in some aspects of the game: all of them. From preparation, through to the quality of their domestic game and into the tactics and attitude of the actually game of cricket they are just streets ahead.

This might seem like I am, metaphorically, throwing the baby out with the bath water AND it may very well be but having already been through the Argus Review that was supposed to avoid, as its top goal, this sort of embarrassing performance now is not the time to sugar coat where Australian cricket is at.

The domestic game is not producing players that are up to test match standard at the moment, well batsmen at least, and we are now, more than ever, beholden to the dollar that comes from the Big Bash League and, more broadly, short form cricket. It is not just our state cricketers that playing more and more short form cricket: our junior and club cricketers are playing more and more of these games whilst at the same time our cricket cultural heritage of being a test cricket dynamo is being swept away because we can not produce players that are suited to the long form game.

I know this is only one game of cricket but this performance has been a growing storm that has been masked by some miraculous efforts by the captain and some individuals. We all know though that cricket is a team game and the team is only as strong as its poorest player: the Australian team has too many players who are not upto to the top flight of the game just yet.

The sticky tape that has been holding cricket in this country together has been well and truly ripped off in this test match. Some would say it already had been in India but our performance in Trent Bridge fooled us into thinking we were improving. We are not though and that frustrates me more than anything I have seen over the last 12 months.

When David Warner punched Joe Root and Mickey Arthur got the sack, I wrote that it was also time for Pat Howard and James Sutherland to go. This test match is not over nor is this series but if things do not improve starting from today’s play can anyone tell me how, certainly, Howard and, possibly, Sutherland, will survive? This is the series they have put all of their efforts into improving the Australian team to challenge for through the Argus Review and its aftermath and absent massive improvement those efforts have been rendered nugatory!

After a terrible day 2 and 3 at Lords, day 4 beckons with a massive improvement in performance needed regardless of the ultimate result of this game. Australia must improve: it is as simple as that. Then again, it would be hard to countenance a performance today that could possibly get any worse.

I, like any Australian fan, want Australia to win and Australian cricket to be dominant. More than that though I want us to compete: and I do not think we did that on day 3. I do not like writing these negative sorts of blogs but the circumstances give me nothing positive to write about. All I can hope is that day 4 is a much better day of cricket for the baggy greens and, by extension, their fans.

Probably the most important day of cricket for whole Ashes series beckons in a couple hours time. If England win the day then they will go a long way to winning this test match and the series will be all but theirs. If Australia win the day a draw or an Australian win will be the likely outcome of this game and the series will be alive and kicking.

Here are my 5 keys to winning the day today:

How long England bat

This pitch is a 400 run par score type of wicket and today will be the best day for batting all test match by all reports. England will be desperate to get their score to at least 350 from their current position and much will hinge on runs coming from Broad and Bresnan. If they are able to bat into the second hour before lunch, given that they general score around 3.5 runs an over 350 will well and truly be in play. If they get to lunch then the target of 400 will be just around the corner.

How has Ryan Harris pulled up?

Ryan Harris was the star with the new ball yesterday for Australia and given James Pattinson’s lack of current form will be the go to man again for Australia. Given his history of injuries all eyes will be on him in the warm ups to see how his knee and shoulder have recovered from 20 overs yesterday. If he is “cherry ripe” then that will go a long way to helping secure the vital 3 wickets Australia need in the first hour of play.

Runs from Australia’s engine room

A hundred or a “red ink” from any of these three batsmen, Rogers, Watson and Khawaja, assuming time permits, will be massive in the context of the game. Both Rogers and Watson were looking solid in the second innings at Trent Bridge before inopportune dismissals and Khawaja is the new boy looking to secure his spot. That said, Australia’s success in much of the 90s and 2000s was built of someone in the top 3 scoring a hundred in the first innings of a test match and this formula will again be the path to success for Australia.

Support for Jimmy Anderson

Every one knows that Australia will be trying their damnedest to blunt the impact of Jimmy Anderson. It will fall to his support bowlers in Broad and Bresnan to shoulder a much larger load in this game, in part because of the short turnaround since Trent Bridge and, in part, given the heat in London. If these two very experiences players replicate their best Australia will be hard pressed to keep them at bay. Conversely if they are anything like the performance of Steve Finn at Trent Bridge the test could quickly be out of their team’s hands.

He who uses the DRS the best

DRS will raise its head at some point and given the impact of it on the outcome of the game (I am not saying that England would have been bested I am just saying that a more judicious use of the DRS could have seen a different complexion on the game) at Trent Bridge the winner of the in game competition between the captains as to who uses DRS the best could end up with a tactical advantage by days end.

All in all, another fascinating day of cricket is nearly upon us. As I said in the preamble, the stakes for this day are particularly high in my view which will only add to the drama!