Chris Barrett is a Sports Writer with The Sydney Morning Herald.
Armed with a breathtaking bowling attack whose virtual fourth-stringer Kyle Abbott, the man of the match in Hobart, even confounded the hosts' bumbling batsmen, South Africa ruthlessly ground the Australian team back to square one.
Australia fell in a heap again on Tuesday to lose a fifth successive Test match.
The class of 85 is out of detention - for now, anyway - after fighting hard with the bat on Monday afternoon.
The placing of one-day series against New Zealand at either end of the summer, as part of the deal for last year's first day-night Test, threw a spanner into Australia's preparations.
The high performance chief has also indicated that selectors Mark Waugh and Trevor Hohns could follow the panel's chairman Rod Marsh out the door.
There is intense pressure building not just on the batsmen responsible for the failures of Perth and Hobart but on those pulling the strings at CA, all the way up to long-time CEO.
In the inglorious tradition of Cape Town and Trent Bridge Australia folded ineptly with the bat on the first day of the second Test in Hobart.
Five years to the day since Australia were infamously bowled out for 47 in Cape Town Steve Smith's side has suffered another jaw-dropping collapse.
Australia have abandoned their all-rounder policy with wet weather forecast for the second Test against South Africa in Hobart, with Mitch Marsh dropped and South Australia's Callum Ferguson one of two debutants in Steve Smith's side.​
Steve Smith accepts that criticism of his team is warranted after four successive Test defeats but rejects the assertion that Australian cricket is in turmoil.
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