Is the seemingly widening gulf between Australia and the rest of the world simply one of those cyclical things in sport, or is it the beginning of a dynasty the likes of which cricket has never seen before?

Are Steve Waugh and his charges copping the rough end of the pineapple in that people are tuning out because they are winning too well? The games are too one-sided. What is the point of following the cricket when it is already a fait accompli?

Australia is the strongest side in world cricket. There is no doubt about that. From one to 11, all players are not just competent and able; they are skilled and gifted. The greatest challenge these players face is being selected in the team because the depth of Australian cricket is so strong there are cricketers being kept in domestic cricket who in any other era would be playing for their country.

The Dutch coined "Total Football" in the 1970's where they believed that there were no positions on the field. Every player should be able to both attack and defend.

Steve Waugh and his Australian side have just about perfected "Total Cricket". The bowlers can bat and do what is needed if the top order fail.

In days gone by, you put your best fielders in the covers and the slips and that was about it. All the Australians are incredible fielders, have great throwing arms and hit the stumps more often that not.

The Australians are incredibly adept at converting the half chances into wickets. It can be ridiculous catches like Matthew Hayden's at the Gabba. Amazing run outs like Adam Gilchrist's at the Gabba. Or just moments of sheer brilliance and artistry such as Glenn McGrath's classical catch at the Adelaide Oval.

But that's what the better sides do. It's no coincidence that the team on top has all the luck. They try harder and manufacture their own luck.

Australia have minimal on-field competition. Only 10 nations play Test cricket. Only New Zealand seems to challenge them. Could a rugby league-type situation emerge where Australia killed off international games because the crème de la crème of the code was an inter-state game between New South Wales and Queensland.

That's not to talk about now. A few retirements to the aging Australian side and they could fall back to the pack.

For the moment, the most arduous task the Australian side faces is how they stack up in cricket immortality?

From their defeat in New Zealand in early-1980 until their loss to Australia in 1995, the West Indies went 29 series without defeat.

Notwithstanding world records for consecutive Test victories, Australia hasn't won more than five series in a row since 1961 where the team won seven series in a row. Away losses in India and Sri Lanka curtailed Australia's consecutive series wins at five.

Steve Waugh and his team find themselves in a difficult position. The West Indies juggernaut of the '80's is idolised and highly-venerated while he and his team stand accused of killing the game and taking all the fun out of it.

That is extremely harsh. What more can they do than win? Does it arise due to the fact that the Australians love being the underdog? That has probably got something to do with it. But the fact is, that winning so consistently in the face of what seems to be thread-bare opposition is boring for fans.

While it wasn't good to be hammered courtesy of a Calypso onslaught, for some reason people find that easier to accept than winning where the opposition seems only capable of turning up.

Which gets us to the English.

The Ashes are the jewel in the cricketing crown and the modern day one-sided nature of the contest can only be doing more harm than good for the game and the Ashes concept.

Totally devoid of any self belief or self confidence, if possible, this side is even worse than the one which toured in 1994/95. Their bowling attack is so benign, it's embarrassing.

The loss of Darren Gough, Ashley Giles and Simon Jones didn't help when you consider their depleted resources to start with.

If McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Shane Warne were injured. Australia could pick decent back-up from the likes of Nathan Bracken, Stuart Clark, Stuart MacGill, Ashley Noffke, Michael Kasprowicz, Nathan Hauritz and Brad Williams.

Most, if not all, of the Australian domestic sides would defeat England. Australian cricket is that strong that most of the state sides would beat most of the Test-playing nations.

Darren Lehmann commented after the recent SA-NSW match that it was the best four-day game he had played in, for a while. Imran Khan stated that a NSW-QLD game he participated in, in the mid '80's was more intense than some Test matches he played in.

Overseas players are spending their time in Australian grade cricket, not inter-state cricket. Australian state players are going over to county cricket and breaking records as if they are going out of fashion. What does that tell you?

Martin Love is an interesting case in point. A run scoring machine for Durham, he has batted twice against England this summer, both times scoring double centuries. In the Pura Cup though, he has scores of 27, 56*, 20, 37 and 0.

Ricky Ponting is in an incredible vein of form 85.5 in the last series against Pakistan and 93.33 in the series to date against England. This would suggest he is the rarest of touches. Why is it then that in the midst of this purple patch he could only manage scores of 7 and 0 against Queensland in a Pura Cup game between the first and second Ashes Tests?

Shane Warne's numbers are considerably better for Australia than for Victoria. His bowling average for Victoria in the Pura Cup is 36.22 and his bowling average for Australia in Test matches is 25.65. Adam Gilchrist averages 38.97 in Pura Cup batting but 58.43 in Test matches.

Is the answer that the Australian players are less intimidated by the Warnes and Gilchrists then their international opposition is?

Six states means just 66 first-class cricketers and most of those seem to be better cricketers than the English. Eighteen counties equates to 198 first-class cricketers and while a fair few of the 198 are foreigners, surely they must be capable of producing 11 good ones?

© David Wiseman

This report does not necessarily represent the views of the Australian Cricket Board.