As Australia's cricketers succumbed to the most emphatic series defeat in their recent history at Nagpur on Monday, it was impossible to escape the feeling that Ricky Ponting's men have morphed into a doddery Dad's Army without any young reservists capable of replacing them. Which is why the next few weeks will see the question resurface of whether Shane Warne should be recalled to the national side at the age of 39.
The spinner may yet be lured out of retirement - especially if the captaincy is on offer - for next year's Ashes series, and it is an indication of how there has been no dwindling of interest in his life throughout his homeland that tickets are selling fast for Shane Warne: The Musical, which opens at the Athenaeum in Melbourne next month.
Billed as "part personal history, part hallucination, the show is about the big issues of success and failure, the pressure of public scrutiny, over-indulgence, being an Australian male, and the heartbreak that comes with falling short of getting everything one wants". Oh, and the actor performing the lead role is a Mr Eddie Perfect, which will probably be sufficient cause for Ponting to embark on another massive sulk during the build-up to Christmas.
One suspects, though, that not even as flamboyant and charismatic an individual as Warne has the capacity to transform the fortunes of a team which has been soundly thrashed over the course of the four-Test series, to the extent that all the attacking instincts which we have become accustomed to from the Aussies over the last decade have been expunged.
Where once there was Adam Gilchrist, now there is Brad Haddin. Where, formerly, Glenn McGrath used to nag away at opposing batsmen like the toothache, there remains a bowling line-up which will have Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell and Alastair Cook licking their lips.
As for Ponting's stewardship, it has been relentlessly negative, the skipper displaying all the bonhomie of WC Fields at a children's tea party, and his once jaunty hauteur has evaporated, amid the signs that Brett Lee is in decline, Mitchell Johnson is nothing more than adequate and Stuart Clark has not managed to sustain the initial impression which he made on graduating to the Test circuit.
Above all, it has been the lack of momentum, zip or energy during the India series which suggests the end of an era. On Saturday morning, in the final Test, when Australia began on 189 for 2, in pursuit of 441, there still seemed an outside chance that they might force their rivals into a seriously-prolonged struggle.
Three hours later, after another 37 overs, they had added just 67 runs, without any sign of having a Plan B when the Indians, quite understandably, settled for containment. In past years, the baggy-green brigade would have harried the fielders, sprinted quick singles and striven to seize the initiative with some big shots. But one waited, and waited, in vain, for their traditional reaction to adversity and, by the time they eventually collapsed, it was all very predictable.
Back home, in Sydney, in Melbourne and elsewhere, the criticism of Ponting has grown by the day, although it is hard to contemplate what Allan Border or Steve Waugh could have done to inspire such a threadbare contingent.
Matthew Hayden still bullies rivals, and can look imperious - for an hour or so - while Ponting, Michael Hussey and Simon Katich are genuine Test-class performers. But, as for the rest, the likes of Michael Clarke and Shane Watson, and Haddin and Cameron White, they have been badly exposed in India and there isn't an abundance of talent ready to fill their boots.
All of which reprises the Warne issue, nearly two years after he took his leave with McGrath and Justin Langer, following the Australians' 5-0 Ashes whitewash. Can he possibly defy the clock and clear his diary, away from his poker, wine-promoting and charity commitments, in order to save his country from the Poms? Well, on the evidence of his newspaper column last week - where he reiterated that he was retired "at this stage", but added the maxim "never say never" - we shouldn't rule out the idea.
Because, if he doesn't, Ian Botham is spot-on. The Australians are screwed.
