Even the most loyal and experienced Aussies at mercy of hard-nosed selectors

Could Michael Clarke be next in line for the selector's axe? Photo / AP

So far in this Ashes series, Australia's selectors have seemingly put an end to the long test careers of Shane Watson and Brad Haddin.

It draws the thought of who they have next in their sights. How about Michael John Clarke, captain and not so long ago among the batting elite of international cricket.

There has long been a brutality about the work of Australia's selection panels, that hard-nosed philosophy passing down to each succeeding group charged with keeping the Aussies at the top of the world game.

The story goes that when veteran gloveman Ian Healy's time was almost up he pleaded, along with his mates, for one last test to go out at his beloved Gabba before his home fans in November 1999.

No dice said the selectors. The bloke they brought in to face Pakistan at the Gabba made a run-a-ball 81; and next test he hit 149 not out at a rapid rate to carry Australia to an unlikely win. From there, Adam Gilchrist never looked back.

Watson had been walking a thin line for a while. Haddin's case is different. He withdrew from the second test at Lord's with his daughter in a London hospital.

Under coach Darren Lehmann, the Aussies have espoused a family first philosophy. In came Peter Nevill who made a reasonable debut. Haddin had a poor opening test in Cardiff. Nevill kept his place for the third test.

Cue outrage from former Australian players who, curiously enough, are all old playing mates of Haddin. His personal circumstances cut no ice with Rod Marsh and his fellow panellists.

Clarke was a champion batsman, if a person who has never truly captured the hearts of the Australian public, and is often at odds with the selectors.

In the first three Ashes tests, he's scored 38, 4, 7, 32 not out, 10 and 3. That's 94 runs from 160 balls, averaging 18.8 - and only that high thanks to a soft unbeaten innings setting up the Lord's win.

He has been dismissed in a range of ways - fluffing his footwork to chip a catch back to spinner Moeen Ali; driving a wide ball to backward point; fending a short ball to square leg; caught at fourth slip and yesterday, most tellingly, playing over a full length ball from Steven Finn.

One clue that the great batsmen are on the slide is when they completely miss balls they had handled with aplomb for years. The eyes start letting them down.

Should Clarke lead Australia to Ashes defeat, look for Steven Smith to be elevated maybe a year earlier than anticipated.

He's averaging 56 in tests, is the game's No 1 ranked test batsman, is about to take the ODI reins and last summer filled in for three tests for an injured Clarke against India, scoring a century in each match.

The interesting part of Clarke's dilemma is how England have managed to diminish the worth of the opposing leader. Australia's seam bowling great Glenn McGrath used to bang on about how he targeted a key batsman, for example England's Mike Atherton, ahead of a series. The rationale being the best way to reduce the threat of a snake was to cut off its head.

A few years earlier the West Indies, in their four horsemen of the apocalypse pomp, were less discerning in their approach to opposition batsmen; they simply cut them all down.

Now Australia find their leader sagging at a time they desperately need him to fire against the opponents who matter the most.