Life after Gilly

And then there were five. Almost half of the Australia team has left in the past 13 months, a bigger exodus than the one that led to an awful 1980s downturn, but the size of the slide will be determined by how the current outfit recovers from the loss of Adam Gilchrist. Even the strongest systems in the world can't absorb such frequent casualties and carry on at the same pace.

Ricky Ponting is facing a long-term operation where he will effectively miss two players: a wicketkeeper and a batsman. For nine years Gilchrist has been the ultimate luxury item, but from the middle of March the rations will not be haute cuisine. Australia will be without a Test batsman who averages almost 50 at a strike-rate in the low 80s, the owner of the most centuries by a gloveman, a world-record holding wicketkeeper, a vice-captain and senior player, a strategist, a diplomat, a motivator and a mate.

They will also be missing a one-day opener who scored 96 runs every 100 balls, a batsman who guaranteed lightning starts, and a custodian who holds another global mark for dismissals. The absence of Matthew Hayden for the Test in Perth showed how much Australia rely on their pillars at the top, and Gilchrist's exit will add to the limited-overs destabilising. Michael Clarke, who has ten runs in his past four ODI attempts as opener, could move up, but the rest of the order will need a reshuffle, and the on-field duties will be shaken up again.

Poor Brad Haddin, the expected successor in all formats. Things have been hard enough this summer for Mitchell Johnson, who has come in for Glenn McGrath, and Stuart MacGill and Brad Hogg in their efforts to cover Shane Warne.

Haddin, 30, has toured with the one-day squad, playing 26 games, including six as a specialist batsman, and has captained New South Wales and Australia A. However, nothing can prepare him for the role he will surely need to fill when Gilchrist bows out. Miracles cannot be expected and if Haddin manages to perform as well as Phil Jaques and Andrew Symonds, who filled the gaps left by Justin Langer and Damien Martyn, he should be considered a success. The guidelines set by Gilchrist are unachievable.

Another problem for Australia is that the quintet of greats and very goods may never be replaced properly. Most of the recent additions are around 30, but the boys are now faced with doing the job of some of the greatest men in world cricket. While Australia worries, the rest lean forward in the hope that more teams will have a chance.

If the Pakistan tour goes ahead in March, the latest version of the new look will be paraded and it will be a tough initiation. Of the fresher faces only Symonds and MacGill have played Tests overseas in the past couple of years and the challenges away from home will be much more difficult. Australia will be treated like mortals instead of being feared as all-conquering superheroes.

The spin bowlers will be attacked and the selection of the recovering MacGill or the struggling Hogg will be as risky as looking to the offspin of Dan Cullen. Each fast man and part-timer has already had to take on more work because of the lack of success against India and Sri Lanka. The fears of life after Warne have been proved and Gilchrist's decision has suddenly increased a host of other concerns.

Following Pakistan there is a tour to the West Indies before a short series against Bangladesh in Darwin. At least then the reinforcements will be able to escape harsh local examinations as the winter football codes take precedence in the home supporters' minds.

Australia hold a large lead in the ICC rankings but the advantage is already starting to close slightly after the resistance provided by India over the past month. In November, when Sri Lanka were squeezed in familiar fashion, it appeared as though Ponting's team had actually managed to improve. It was an illusion and now the side is likely to bounce up and down like a truck on a country road.

Ponting has lost his chief advisor and the ramifications will be felt from the oldest players to the newest. Clarke and Michael Hussey are contenders as Ponting's deputy and even without the vice-captain's tag they will experience even heavier loads of responsibility. Covering another massive hole will be a huge assignment for an evolving team. Ponting and his new friends are approaching a couple of years that will define them.