Ahhhh! What a glorious Summer. That is if you are South African or if you love to see Australian cricket taking a boot in the ribs, head and groin. Yes we are down and writhing in pain.

We only managed to win one test — the final test in a dead rubber — and one limited overs match. We did win both 20-20 matches but that only emphasizes my point really. The South Africans even sent a second eleven onto the park last night. Didn’t matter to us. We managed to lose as badly as we did on Australia Day, thank you very much. Even I gave up hope when the asking rate went over three runs per over.

So where now? Losing the series 4-1 means that our number one ranking is gone. We can regain it by winning the first one-dayer against New Zealand tomorrow but we don’t deserve it. Besides, given our performance so far, a victory against New Zealand is far from a given. Our top order, with the exception of Ricky Ponting, has failed consistently this Summer and even Ricky failed to capitalize on good starts more often than not. This is, ironically, the only bright spot for us – the top order can’t keep failing. Right? Right? So our batting will improve. Just don’t talk about the bowling.