To the Australian selectors belongs the shame of committing the monumental blunder of the new millennium. Not to pick a spinner for a Test at the Oval is, perhaps, the equivalent of picking three specialist spinners for a Perth pitch. Logic deserted the Aussies who can be quite arrogant and opinionated about cricket strategy.

All this is not being said with the grand benefit of hindsight. The teams had all the help they could have asked for to analyse the pitch. The London ground now has the sophisticated turf tracking weather and ground conditions system, which at the touch of a button would provide data on the moisture content of the pitch, etc.

It was not entirely surprising that the Oval pitch settled down when it slowed up considerably, as dry pitches around the world tend to do. Pre-match conditions would have screamed out the message that spinners would be central to a team’s fortunes on Oval pitches in which second innings are usually much longer than the first.

Such slowing up of the surface often takes place in India where dry pitches may not deteriorate after playing up a bit at the start but tend to rob the bowlers of pace off the pitch. If that happens, fast bowlers tend to struggle the most, which is exactly what happened to Australia who were always behind after the first innings collapse.

Maybe, the Aussies could blame the rain of the second day just when they were to get in to bat. The little freshening of the pitch surroundings was sufficient for Stuart Broad, the future Flintoff, to bowl one great spell of cutters aimed at the top of off-stump. The holders of the Ashes were doomed then and there.

Where they would have felt the absence of Nathan Hauritz the most was when they had to keep the target from expanding to an impossible 500+plus. A fourth innings dash is never ruled out as conditions ease up but the Aussies gave away far too much to have a real dart at turning things around to have the last laugh.

Even at the height of their pace glory, the West Indies would take a spinner into the XI, at least when they were playing in the sub-continent. Not only is variety important but also the over rate has to be taken into account. Viv Richards could turn his arm over and Gus Logie was useful. The need for a specialist was, however, always acknowledged by Richards, if not quite Clive Lloyd. Given Hauritz’s record in the early part of the series, it is not as if Australia were in fear of carrying a dud spinner. He would have been useful in both innings and would probably have been the difference between with whom the Ashes lay and where they are headed now. Admitted, he is not Shane Warne, but any spinner worth his salt would have had a fair degree of success on that track.

Whether this was the Ricky Ponting’s choice or it was thrust upon him by the selector on tour, the fact remains that the Aussies had painted themselves into a corner. Maybe, if Ponting returns to England in 2013, he would be wiser by the experience and would insist on the spinner regardless of whether he is still captain, or just a batsman.

You knew something is innately wrong with an Australian team whose captain and vice captain get run out in the space of six balls. Maybe, Pointing should not risk being the only captain to lose the Ashes thrice in England.