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Don Argus (R) presents his report into the state of Australian cricket in August 2011. Source:AFP
The man who reviewed the trembling foundations of Australian cricket two years ago spotlighted the batting frailties that have been brutally exposed in the current Ashes series.
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The Argus Report detailed four key batting weaknesses that required urgent attention, but the distressing news for Australia is that all of the problems remain unsolved.
These were a failure to bat for long periods, an inability to handle the moving ball, a poor approach to spin and generally flawed techniques.
The damning report could have been written yesterday in the wake of Australia's 347-run loss to England at Lord's.
The battle to find a long-innings player stretches all the way down to club cricket where the days of Matthew Hayden-style bat-until-sundown marathons on the Brisbane grade scene have been generally consigned to a bygone era.
Even at Sheffield Shield level, the long-stay batsman has become a rarity with no batsman scoring more than three Shield centuries last season.
A decade ago, Michael Bevan scored eight Shield centuries in a summer and Matthew Elliott seven.
Australia's batting in the first two Tests was so poor teenager Ashton Agar is Australia's leading run-scorer.
His 130 runs for the series are 50 fewer than England's Joe Root managed in one innings at Lord's.
The mesmeric swing bowling of Jimmy Anderson has again confounded Australia and a recent tour of spin-friendly India did nothing to ease Australia's anxiety against slow bowling.
Clever off-spinner Graeme Swann, who like Anderson has 13 wickets from two Tests, has cast a spell over an Australian side whose body language betrays signs of tension when they come to the crease.
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Shane Watson is so concerned at his inability to turn starts into major scores he recently phoned former Middlesex all-rounder turned media pundit Simon Hughes at 10pm to ask whether he had any thoughts on the issue.
Watson has now been given out lbw a higher percentage of times than any other long-serving batsman in the history of Test cricket, an extraordinary 24 times from 77 Test innings - 31.16 per cent.
Australia have precious few alternatives for the remainder of the series.
But coach Darren Lehmann has ruled out adding reinforcements to the Australian squad for the remainder of the Ashes.
Ed Cowan is with the squad but he has been neither dynamic or stoic on tour.
David Warner has been sent to Zimbabwe to find form but failed twice in his first tour game and has been desperately out of form.
The English county scene has three Australian-raised players near the top of the averages - sadly one is retired from Shield cricket, one played for the West Indies and the other wants to play for England.
Simon Katich, 37, has amassed 874 first class runs for Lancashire.
Though he said this week he never actually retired from international cricket, Katich called a halt to his first-class career in Australia last year - and that will be enough for Australia not to consider picking him here.
Australia would have loved to get their hands on Sydney-born Sam Robson, 24, who is second behind Joe Root on the English first-class run scorers list with 907 at 60.46 this season for Middlesex.
He has declared his allegance to England. The quirky entrant on the county averages is former Queensland batsman Brendan Nash (907 runs at 60.46 for Kent) who played 21 Tests for the West Indies.
Some pundits, like West Indian great Michael Holding, predict several grim years ahead for the batting line-up.
Shane Warne has spotlighted a general lack of composure.
"The Australian batsmen are playing adrenalin cricket and are in a hurry to impose themselves on England," Warne wrote in the London Telegraph.
"Patience is the key. They have to trust their defence and bat for long periods without going into their shell."
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