The side has lost five bilateral series in a row and seems to be going through a decline in the absence of their key players like David Warner and Steve Smith.

Australia once again lost a one-day series to South Africa at home. The cricketing nation that ruled the roost for almost a decade, has certainly become a laughing stock at the moment with a successive string of defeats. The ball-tampering scandal earlier this year certainly has left huge scars in the dressing room as Australia has reached its lowest ebb in limited-overs cricket this year.

Australia looked dejected after losing the one-day series in Hobart

Let's take a look at the reasons as to why Australia are performing poorly at the moment.

The inclusion of T20 players in the ODI Setup

The Australian selector have got it totally wrong with their selections. The selection of Chris Lynn, D'Arcy Short, and Adam Zampa has not quite worked. The trio hasn't been able to make an impression so far for Australia limited-overs cricket. Lynn did show signs of his abilities with the bat at Adelaide, need to produce consistency to cement his place in the side. Many cricket pundits believe that Lynn has been rated too highly and need to work on his game to get into the one-day side for Australia.

D'Arcy Short has not been able to replicate any kind of form that he showed last year in the Big Bash League. Short has thrown his wicket away and has been guilty of playing in the T20 mode from the world go this year. He will certainly need to curb his instincts in order to produce good scores for Australia in one-day internationals.

Adam Zampa has also been a big disappointment for Australia in the middle overs of the innings.

Too many changes in the XI

Australia have not able to select their best XI and have undergone selection changes throughout this year. Nathan-Coulter Nile, Ashton Agar, and Kane Richardson have not been a proper run in the limited-overs side. The constant changes in the squad have been a big problem in terms of bringing different players into the squad.

Frailty in the middle-order

The middle order is certainly an area of concern for Australia at the moment. Glenn Maxwell has been poor with the bat and is averaging less than 30 since 2015 Cricket World Cup co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand. Maxwell certainly needs to be dropped as players like Callum Ferguson, Moises Henriques and Cameron White come into the side due to a vast experience under their belt.

Marcus Stoinis has also been inconsistent with bat this year. His bowling has been decent but Australia will need to for other options that are equally good with bat and ball.

Lack of Depth at the domestic level.

There is certainly lack of depth at the domestic level as they limited number of quality players playing at the moment. Besides Jake Lehmann, Ben McDermott and a few others, we see similar old faces like George Bailey, Cameron White and Tom Cooper doing well in the recent JLT one-day cup.

Australia will certainly need to look at the system as the influx of the T20 cricket has certainly dented their systems. The inclusion of new players might certainly be the way forward as Australia to find answers for string of poor performances this year.