Let's be honest. Losing to New Zealand isn't the end of the world.  If anything, it gives an accurate reflection of where the Australian cricket team is positioned.

It's possible that a David Warner-inspired victory might have papered over many of the rather insidious cracks in the current line-up.

Did Australia really deserve a clean sweep of a two-Test series in which they played some truly deplorable cricket?

That's the problem with two-Test series; they offer no closure. Questions don't get properly answered. It's like taking a laxative and meeting Scarlett Johansson at a Hookers and Deviates Ball.

The truth is, or appears to be, that the two sides are quite evenly matched.

Australia might well possess the weaponry to defeat New Zealand in the long term - Pattinson, Cummins, Warner, Starc, Khawaja - but right now they are a capricious regiment. 

The old timers in the regiment don't appear to be imparting much wisdom, either. Perhaps their ailments are preventing them from doing so?

In spite of the unexpected loss, there's plenty for Australia to take out of the eight days of Test cricket against its neighbours.

Man-of-the-series James Pattinson bowled dangerously throughout.  His delivery to remove ‘compatriot' Dean Brownlie in the second innings of the second Test was an absolute gem.  It followed the already-wounded batsman and managed to sneak a dying kiss from his glove.

Pattinson looks like the genuine article.  He can swing the ball at pace, he has a muscular bottom and, in true Lillee-and-Thomson fashion, he has a bit of mongrel in him.

At first glance, he is a chance to match Dale Steyn's feat of reaching 100 wickets in 20 tests: the 15th fastest bowler overall.

Mitchell Starc is an interesting proposition. He struggled at Blundstone Arena (for those confused, it's a cricket ground, not an Apollo Bay shearing shed).  If Ryan Harris is fit for the Boxing Day test, Starc will almost certainly make way.

Starc showed glimpses against the Kiwis. He bowls from a tricky height and, at times, he bowls tricky deliveries.  His bounce might prove useful against the Indians in Perth. 

There is a niche for him in Australia's future attack. All of the country's other emerging pacemen are right armers.  Every attack needs variety.  If Mitchell Johnson's variety proves too various, Starc is the obvious answer.

He's still as raw as Shane Warne's bacon-blistered fingers. He needs to improve his control.  Realistically, he's two years away from making an impact at test level.  He'll be much the wiser for the run against New Zealand, which is surely the purpose in offering youth a crack.

Enough has already been written about Phil Hughes. There's no point in critiquing his batting technique. 

The most alarming observation, on a humane level, is his pallid, sickly appearance whilst he is at the crease. He looks as though he's ingested a muddied chicken offcut from a street stall in Delhi.

His appearance is in stark contrast to the 20-year-old who exuberantly leapt into the air after hitting Paul Harris for consecutive sixes at Kingsmead in 2009.

Usman Khawaja or Ricky Ponting?  Not since Hamlet uttered - ‘to be, or not to be' - has such an important question been asked of the sophisticated world.

Both players make silly mistakes. They are both immensely talented. One has little left to prove. The other has proven little. Erratic behavior is tolerable in the young, but more difficult to reconcile in the old.  Ricky Ponting isn't old, but his eyes are beginning to betray him.

New Zealand deserves a lot of credit for their victory in Hobart.  They conquered Australia on home soil for the first time in 26 years. The last time they tasted success in this country, Phil Spector was practically a pacifist.

The Kiwis managed to expose Australia's frailties.  For a staunch sportsman or sporting team, this is the most satisfying way to win (for verification of this philosophy, watch Francesca Schiavone's victory in the 2010 French Open Final or any St Kilda victory from 2007-2011).

The Australian selectors must now appraise the team's various cracks before they meet the mighty Indians. They must decide which cracks they are willing to live with and which cracks will continue to deteriorate.  In Hobart, as in Cape Town, we saw what happened when cracks start to merge.