When teams win a premiership or, in Australia's case, climb to the top, sights are often set on a dynasty. "I think it is a good start for us. We want to win every series that we play and winning away from home is a big goal of mine and the team," Smith said in February.

Nine months on and his side has lost series at home and abroad. It has not won a Test, not even come close. So how does a team go from being top of the world to, as Cricket Australia chief James Sutherland said, "lucky to be a top 10 side" so quickly?

This cricket crisis has already been compared with the 1980s though some feel this is even worse. Back then there was at least a reason – a golden era had ended and those replacing them had been poached on a rebel tour. Now the system stands accused of being broken.

There is not a layer in Australian cricket that gets off scot free – from the top of the administration, to team performance boss Pat Howard, selectors, coach and even the captain.

Head selector Rod Marsh is gone, and more will follow, starting this weekend when wholesale changes are made to the Test XI for Adelaide. There will be people higher up the food chain to go unless there are immediate results.

There are striking similarities between this summer and that of 2010-11 when Australia lost their first Ashes series in 24 years. On both occasions, humiliation followed a false dawn, leading to a period of introspection.

The events of the past fortnight could easily have happened 12 months ago if not for a series of flat tracks and the opposition not been an underdone New Zealand and the West Indies.

The No.1 ranking was more a reflection of the deeds of Michael Clarke, Brad Haddin, Mitchell Johnson and Co than it was of the current crop. It was Clarke's side that had earned the bulk of the points. The vagaries of the system also helped, as Australia's 4-0 whitewash in India dropped off.

The events of the past few weeks, however, have blindsided CA. Sutherland mentioned the No.1 ranking no fewer than eight times when he faced the music in Hobart after this week's calamity. A true No.1 may have been better equipped to handle the schedule head office has delivered to the team.

A summer already compressed by the Big Bash was tightened even further by an ODI series against New Zealand. It meant Australia had only one Sheffield Shield match – a pink-ball game no less – to prepare for the first Test. The Argus review of 2011 said "there should be multiple Shield rounds leading into the first Test each year".

It's not the only lesson from history CA has ignored. For the second time in five years it has mismanaged its succession plan. If mediocrity came after one of the greatest teams of all time was disbanded, then what will follow now after the end of a good but not great side?

There is no shortage of former Test players who believe the Shield is not what it was. That a player was allowed to start midway through a recent match so another bowler could have his workload managed, then bowl his team to victory is being seen as a symbol of how the Shield has been cheapened. Even Marsh last month bemoaned how first-class cricket was losing its integrity.

Howard says the Shield system, which he has had a large hand in re-making, is producing the talent required, pointing to the recent success of the A side. If so, then what does is say about his selectors?

Players have privately spoken of being "confused" and "disillusioned" by selection and their communication, or lack thereof, with selectors. Some who toured New Zealand have not heard from a selector since. That a selector owns racehorses with current players has also raised eyebrows.

There is a push for Marsh's replacement to be a much younger former player with gravitas who can communicate with the players of today. Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting shape as ideal candidates should they be interested.

The decision by CA to hand Darren Lehmann a contract extension until the 2019 Ashes tour is now being widely questioned. While there are no suggestions he has lost the dressing room – the death knell for any coach – there are murmurs from some players that he has "checked out" in the past few months. Smith gave an impassioned defence of his coach in Hobart, while other Lehmann supporters believe such a suggestion is disrespectful.

This is a crucial period in Lehmann's coaching tenure. He has already been told to "reinvent" himself by Howard. Lehmann has been a success at state and franchise level but never held a post for as long as this one. He was the right man to heal a fractured dressing room in 2013 but Smith's side is less experienced and clearly needs more hands-on treatment.

Smith, too, needs guidance early in his captaincy career. There is no talk of a divided team which makes his public criticism of the team this week, where he accused them of not having pride in the baggy green and showing enough fighting spirit, all the more alarming.

Though he has lifted trophies for NSW and the Sydney Sixers, he has never had to create a culture. At domestic level, he had Trevor Bayliss, Haddin and others setting the standards, allowing him to take care of what happened on the field.

Some past players are questioning what his identity is. Smith said when he took the job he would lead from the front. His efforts in Hobart indicate he is practicing what he preached. So too did Waugh and Ponting, who also inspired teammates with their toughness and love for the baggy green. Clarke was highly regarded as a brilliant tactician and outstanding batsmanship.

Smith's team gets along, there are no rifts but, some have asked, is that because they are not prepared to ask each other hard questions? One high-ranking figure in Australian cricket believes the current team is "soft" and wonders whether they hurt because of their own failure or the team's.

The dynamic between Smith and David Warner is also creating discussion with some past players questioning why the vice-captain formerly known as The Bull for his aggression has now become The Reverend.

One former Test player says this week could be to Smith what "Homework-gate" was to the Clarke-led team. It could be the making of him.