The most dispiriting thing to come out of Australia's capitulation in the fourth Test was not the final day batting collapse.

It also wasn't the news that if Australia doesn't win the fifth Test at the Oval next week it will drop to fifth in the Test rankings and be the first Australian team not to win a Test in an Ashes series for 36 years.

Captain Michael Clarke said after the Test in Durham that the selectors didn't have many options and the best players were there in England.