Trevor Chappell may be an aberration as a former or present Australian cricketer these days. The world, and now the most low-profile of the Chappell brothers can see what a lot of the Aussie media and commentators probably cannot, and that is a simple, over-stated fact that the current Australian team does not possess the wherewithal to challenge the Proteas in their own den. Hence, the Chappell-prediction of a 3-0 whitewash for South Africa may presumably be a little far-fetched, but it is not impossible by any stretch of imagination. 
Let us start by looking at Australia’s chance at winning a test match, and the discussion could end before it even begins. Capturing of twenty wickets is a much desirable attribute to achieve such a win and the last one had heard, it needed a bowling attack that did not suffer from too many impotency issues. It also needs a combination of positive captaincy, vibrant fielding and huge slices of luck. At the current moment, unless a miracle of a tsunamic measure hits the Australians, it seems very unlikely that any of the first three features would be found in abundance in the team.
Instead, the bowling attack itself is the biggest pain area, what with Mitchell Johnson as the most experienced of the lot with 18 test matches to his name. Of the remaining motley of quickies, it would be a three-way fight for the two spots and that is not because of the happy situation that some teams find themselves in; it is only because the others have no experience whatsoever. Doug Bollinger did play in a test against the Proteas, but expecting this left-armer to adjust to pitches that wouldn’t offer him too much swing, could just be akin to akin to wanting the stars. Peter Siddle has the pace, but with speed comes the responsibility and a greater challenge to bowl the right lines and lengths or run the risk of being carted away to the fence in this day and age of powerful bats, shorter boundaries and easier pitches.
The fourth choice behind them is Ben Hilfenhaus who has featured in some of the shorter version games, but at this highest level, he is still a novice. Yet, if the tour game is anything to go by, Hilfenhaus may be the one who books his place in the starting eleven, over the others. He had looked like picking up wickets in the ODI series that preceded this tour and it would be interesting to watch how he goes.
Unfortunately, even when the bowlers have created the chances in the past year or so, it is the fielders – especially the ones at slips – who have muffed up quite a few sitters. Forget the times of Bob Simpson, Mark Taylor, Mark Waugh or Shane Warne, the slip fielding has for some time, touched newer depths of woes and that has essentially made the bowling look more brittle than they are.
The all-round and the spinning department is another story altogether. Looking at the game of musical-chairs that the Australian spinners have been made to feature in, one almost gets a sense that the Aussie selectors are hell bent upon unearthing another Shane Warne, overnight. So, Bryce McGain does get his turn after all. His first tour game for Australia, however, has proved to be baptism by fire for him, as he leaked 126 runs from his 19 overs against a Board President’s XI, almost making one feel that it is the Indians who were batting against a foreign spinner; not allowing him to settle down one bit. And, it also puts the onus back on the skipper Ponting to decide on who between McGain and Nathan Hauritz would actually end up making his way into the starting line-up.
With Andrew Symonds and Shane Watson out of harm’s way, the former’s namesake, McDonald would love to seal his spot as the team’s all-rounder, but there are serious question-marks over his ability to force his way into an international line-up with either bat or ball. McDonald looks to be a player in the Paul Collingwood-of-the-old mould, a bits and pieces cricketer, and with such big Symonds boots to fill – both literally and figuratively – his task would very well be cut out. Marcus North may have to wait his turn out, but given the latest Aussie hobby of rotating-without-rhyme-or-reason, it wouldn’t come as a surprise to many if he does get in!
And what about the set of batsmen, which is most definitely Australia’s so-called best chance to keep them in the game? But one must remember that Mathew Hayden’s retirement means that a new opener would need to fill in another set of huge boots, and Michael Clarke’s recurring back injuries means that they do not have a settled middle-order either. While Michael Hussey had shown early signs of Bradman-like scoring ability, he would need to rekindle it back to get something going for his team. Ponting has had a good series with the bat, but the authority – even as a batsman – is missing, and whether the Proteas would allow that to happen is a question worth asking.
All in all, Australia would need to play out of their skins, and then hope for the elements to assist them at the right opportunities to bail them out of this rut that they find themselves in.