Australian cricket supporters shouldn't grumble. After all, their beloved national team has won four ODI world cups and were the undisputed Test best from 1995-2008, which included two record streaks of 16 consecutive wins.
Of course, familiarity breeds contempt, meaning a generation of Australian fans demand continued excellence and stellar performance even when lofty expectation is delusional for a team overflowing with mediocrity and bereft of leadership.
Australia has been treading water since Warne and McGrath stopped bewildering international batsmen in early 2007. Comprehensive Test series victories against inept touring sides masked the deficiencies.
Australia's frailties were brutally exposed during their humiliating Indian whitewash, causing widespread panic during a back-to-back Ashes year - essentially a 10-match championship for Australian and English supporters.
Lots of grumbling ensued.
With media and public finally shaking off their delusions, a bevy of agitated questions have been reverberating in the land down under - Where are our precious batsmen? Why are the quicks so fragile? Surely, we have better spin options than Xavier Doherty? Why do we have a dearth of leadership? What happens if Michael Clarke's (gulp) bothersome back aches?
It is the last two curly questions that are most worrying from an Australian perspective. Australia has had a precession of revered leaders dating back to Allan Border's reign in the mid-'80s. Their great teams of the '90s and '00s were overbrimming with players possessing innate leadership qualities.
Clarke has been a one-man band for Australian with bat and leadership. The latter was evident when Clarke succumbed to his back bane to miss the final Test in India and was replaced as skipper by (gulp) Shane Watson, who hadn't scored a Test century in two years and was engulfed in the team's embarrassing 'homework' scandal.
Champagnes were popping around Australia when it was revealed that Watson had relinquished his vice captaincy role in all formats. Watson's penchant for juvenile tantrums and his narcissist perception made him derided by even his compatriots.
An outsider could sense the uneasy relationship between captain and deputy, and it was clear that the leadership marriage was on the verge of a nasty breakup. It was time Australia unearthed a Clarke protege.
But who? The leadership cupboard is bare. David Warner is likely to get the nod and appears a suitable candidate in the coloured formats but his inconsistencies in the Test arena and his penchant to become Australia's on-field 'enforcer', akin to Matthew Hayden, has affected his concentration and reinforces his immaturity.
T20 skipper George Bailey oozes with leadership nous and has traits reminiscent of Steve Waugh, but he has yet to play a Test and had an abysmal Sheffield Shield season for Tasmania. I'm an unabashed Bailey believer and hope he makes the journey to England but there is a distinct possibility that he doesn't possess the class to succeed in the gruelling Test arena.
Matthew Wade is too inexperienced. Ditto, Phil Hughes. Bowlers are rubber stamped as non-captaincy material when presented with a Baggygreen. So, rule a line through Peter Siddle.
Ed Cowan has the persona of spending a Friday night ensconced with Charles Dickens instead of Jack Daniels. Which doesn't perturb me personally, but unfortunately, this is not the stereotype many in the mainstream throng would envision as a future Australian captain. And for Cowan, it doesn't help that he is always walking the selection tightrope because his sketchy batsmanship can make an insomniac swoon.
Which leaves me with...well....no-one. It is tradition and cricket norm for a line-up to boast a captain and a vice-captain. But, why conform? The burden is too immense for any of the potential candidates.
Clarke should govern solo. He will always have a brains trust on field to act as a sounding board. In the advent of a Clarke injury, the best candidate at the time and place will be bestowed with the stopgap honour.
So, my proposition to Cricket Australia is simple - don't waste time searching for a vice-captain that doesn't exist. Patience is required. Warner may be ready by year's end. Perhaps Bailey. Or maybe there's a precocious youngster waiting in the wings.
Clarke will eventually have a trusty deputy. That day just hasn't arrived.
I can hear the faint echoes of chatter. Let the grumbling begin.
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