Just when you thought it couldn't possibly get any worse, the shambles that has been England's Ashes series Down Under turned into complete farce.

After that desperate draw in Sydney, any chance of a bit of batting gumption in Hobart? Not a hope - 82-1 to 124 all out, an entire 4-0 series defeat without once reaching 300.

But if you're hoping for some sensible direction from the 'great and good' of the game, you may be disappointed.

The BBC's jolly nice Jonathan Agnew says the Four-Day Championship, the one format that might encourage the skills so lacking against Australia, should be abolished with several counties dropped from the first-class game altogether.

What world is he living in?

And Tom Harrison, the chief executive of the dysfunctional ECB, talks about the need for a 'reset' to help the Test team.

Hallelujah! The body which has overseen the current situation admits it's a train wreck, but without a shred of accountability.

We now have 'centrally contracted' English players being paid more, and in many cases far more, than Australians, Indians, Pakistanis, New Zealanders and West Indians, who regularly beat them up.

The decision by manager Chris Silverwood and captain Joe Root to omit Anderson and Broad for the first Test - to 'keep them fresh' for the second! - beggared belief.

Root is an outstanding batsman, a limited captain and the bigger problem is that there are so few obvious candidates to succeed him.

The first decision should be to drop the 'Hundred' as soon as contractual commitments allow.

It's a silly, short-term, TV-driven appendage to an already packed schedule which already has a popular six-and-out competition in the T20 Blast.

Last season there were bigger crowds at Taunton watching Somerset's '2nd XI' in the One-Day (50 over) Cup than there were on the same days at many televised Hundred matches.

No other major cricketing nation apart from India has TWO 20-over competitions.

Dropping the 'Hundred' might not solve anything of itself. But it would indicate that the people running English cricket have their priorities somewhere near right and might be prepared to act accordingly.

But don't hold your breath…