The last vestige of Australia's cricketing dominance has finally gone. Despite being in terminal decline since 2007, the straw man of Australia's World Cup record has been employed to refute the need for change. A staggering run, stretching back to 1999 and taking in 34 games, is over. That particular collection of cereals is now scattered across the Motera outfield as Australia contemplates its next move.

The specific match on Thursday night that carried such importance was in the balance for 90 of the scheduled 100 overs. That India overcame Australia by five wickets owed plenty to the revitalised all-rounder, Yuvraj Singh, but frustratingly more to the impotent Australian bowling attack. 260 was a defendable target but on a wicket that home skipper MS Dhoni asked his spinners to bowl for 32 out of 50 overs, Ricky Ponting could muster only 17 overs of similar guile in reply.

From the announcement of the 15-man squad, this was always the doomsday scenario. An Australian side stacked with raw pace facing a powerful batting line up on a bunsen burner. Anywhere outside the sub-continent, the triumvirate of Tait, Lee and Johnson would cause sleepless nights for any opposition top-order. As it turned out, the more important trio were Krejza, Hussey and Clarke. As was always likely to be the case.

The predictable outcome should result in the brains trust of the senior side relinquishing their positions. This is, after all, not the first miscalculation of selection or strategy during the tenure of messrs Hilditch, Nielsen, Ponting and co. They have presided over a decline that is comparable to the cricketing dark ages of the early 1980s. Back then the nettle was grasped firmly and the rewards followed. This time around, the powers that be are adopting the Brendan Fevola approach - admit there's a small problem but that you're in control of fixing it.

When backing such a bold selection policy its creators have to accept its outcome comes with an added degree of scrutiny. It is one thing to lose in a World Cup knockout but it is another to do so knowing the best XI for the job was not on the field to compete.

It is fair to suggest there were no logical alternatives (at least fit) to have made the trip to India in place of one of the many quicks. However, it is equally fair to ask why that was the case and apportion enough of the blame to the same senior decision-makers. The mishandling of post-Warne spinners has enfeebled the Australian attack to a crippling extent. Someone eventually has to take responsibility for this debacle.

The issue of spin is just one of many factors which have accumulated over the course of the last four or so years, and the last six months in particular, that indicate the time is right for a new broom to sweep through the corridors of Cricket Australia.

Putting to one side for now the Ashes car-crash, this World Cup was an exercise in deception by flattery. Too often batsmen took their time to get in before departing without a big score - Ricky Ponting's pyrrhic hundred against India was Australia's only century of the tournament. Openers, Watson and Haddin shared seven fifties but too often gave their wickets away frivolously when set.

The middle order, once anchored by great finishers, was simply weighed down by expectation. Steve Smith, the tailor-made spinning all-rounder failed to make the final XI of the biggest match of the tournament and it must have been close to choose between dropping him or Cameron White, who averaged 17.5 at a Boycottesque strike rate of 62. Typically, both were continuously backed throughout, with the hope that both would perform eventually. This, despite it being clear for some time that Smith's cricketing development is far from complete and White's international form has been in freefall all year.

The long-promised reviews into both the administrative and cricketing aspects of Cricket Australia cannot be published soon enough. Regardless of obvious replacements right now, Ponting, Nielsen and Hilditch have to go. How can they justify their positions on current form? If it takes an internal review by three former captains to prise them out, so be it, but if any remain after the internal analysis is completed, the integrity of the process will be compromised.

For the first time in almost thirty years, Australia is not very good at international cricket. The next Ashes is not until 2013 and the next World Cup two years beyond that. There are no more short-term hurdles to get over. The mythical period of ‘transition' has passed. Australia is in the process of bottoming out and rebuilding needs to begin immediately.