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Australian crickets story is littered with crucible moments; times when the national team has either stood up or flaked out. In the moment, these instances may not seem that important, only gaining resonance through what happens afterwards. Other moments stand out like beacons almost from the second they take place. Whatever is decided at levels above, whatever reviews or appointments take place, the fate rests ultimately with the players.The third dull, wintry day in Hobart felt like one such day and the next two to follow are no less important. Australia are so far behind South Africa they have only slim hope of getting out of Bellerive without a match and series defeat, but it is vital that they show evidence of improvement. The jobs of many, from the chief executive James Sutherland down to the debutant Callum Ferguson, are on the line.How much hinges on all this? Remember the words of the coach Darren Lehmann after Australia were bundled out for 85 on day one. Asked about the future, he did not want to think about the consequences of a hiding. Ill probably tell you in a few days, he said. Hopefully we fight back really well and the future is bright. We know weve got to get better in a lot of areas, weve always said that. Even four Tests ago when we were No.1. Now were way away from that.Each of the past five Australian captains have met moments of similar weight - of both the winning and losing varieties. For Allan Border, perhaps the most resonant was day one of the 1989 Ashes series at Headingley, when he came out to bat after a pair of early wickets on an overcast day and played an innings so brazen it included one six cut hard over backward point - back in the day when that shot was almost unheard of. Sixteen years of Ashes dominance were forged that morning.Border experienced the other side towards the end of his career, when he and his team were unable to take a chance to defeat West Indies in a series for the first time in 17 years. A chase of 186 to win in Adelaide was left too much in the hands of the tail, leaving Australia one run short of victory, and Border to hurl his worry ball so hard into the dressing room floor that it rebounded to strike the ceiling.For Mark Taylor, a personal turning point did not dovetail with team success, but foreshadowed it. By the time of the second innings of the first Ashes Test in 1997, he had gone 19 innings without passing 50, and a previously happy and dominant team were feeling the strain. Rolled by Darren Gough and Andy Caddick, then clattered to all parts of Edgbaston by Graham Thorpe and Nasser Hussain, Australia started their second innings 360 runs behind.Without a hundred, Taylors captaincy would have been at an end, and in the early overs the tension was close to unbearable. But in the company of Matthew Elliott and Greg Blewett, he carved out an ugly hundred, adding respectability to the scoreboard and allowing the team enough breathing space to regroup and ultimately win the series. Taylor led the team for another two years.Again in England, Steve Waughs captaincy came under enormous pressure during the 1999 World Cup, following on from a surprising 2-2 Test series draw against West Indies in the Caribbean. The team was not happy, Waugh and Shane Warne butting heads, and losses to New Zealand and Pakistan left the team needing to win each of their last seven matches of the tournament or face elimination at every stage. Waughs response, most pointedly in a pair of nail-biters over South Africa, was to make critical runs. Warne, by now toying with retirement, overcame doubts about a shoulder still regaining strength after surgery to rip the ball in his former fashion. The World Cup was won, and Waugh stayed on as leader until 2004. Despite a winning record overall, Ricky Pontings leadership is remembered most for a pair of Ashes defeats. The first in 2005 was said to have swung on Glenn McGraths injured ankle, but Pontings call to send England in even after he knew he would be without his best pace bowler proved much the more fateful juncture, leading ultimately to the loss of the urn for the first time since Borders 1989 redemption.Move ahead to 2010-11, and a home Ashes series now viewed as one sided may actually have pivoted on the loss of two wickets either side of the first drinks on Boxing Day. Phillip Hughes and Ponting were prospering well enough in front of a mighty crowd when the former skewed Tim Bresnan to point, before next over the captain snicked Chris Tremlett into the slips. The former coach Tim Nielsen still gnashes his teeth about that one and all the ignominy to follow - it proved to be Pontings last Test as captain.Michael Clarkes leadership tale always teetered between triumph and disaster with little in between. The pivotal point leading to the former came when Mitchell Johnson took the ball just before lunch on day two of the first 2013-14 Ashes Test at the Gabba, worrying out Jonathan Trott as per team plans and sending momentum flooding to Australia. The latter, perhaps harder to isolate, was arguably the second afternoon of the Cardiff Test in 2015, when a series of squandered starts sentenced Australia to an opening defeat in a series they would never lead. Clarke, fighting his own inner battles, was en route to retirement from that moment.So it is that Steven Smiths men find themselves in the crucible at Bellerive. They enjoyed a far better day on Monday than Saturday, even if Quinton de Kocks impersonation of Adam Gilchrist gathered impressive depth. The batting spine shown by Smith and Usman Khawaja, in particular, demonstrated a level of self-knowledge about where this team now stands after four consecutive losses and the distinct prospect of a fifth. The heaviness of expectation was not lost on Josh Hazlewood.Extremely important I think, he said. Everyone knows we need to improve and improve quickly. We talk amongst ourselves and everyone knows we need to improve. So I think its about everyone individually doing what they can on or off the field, and important to do it as a group as well. Hopefully it happens on the field. Were obviously a pretty tight group, we play a lot of cricket together and were on the road together a lot. Everyone gets along fantastically on and off the field, but nows an important time to stick together and even be tighter.Australian cricket has never been richer or better resourced. The national teams players have never been better paid nor looked after. There are problems with scheduling, and issues of coaching philosophy as it relates to the business of batting. But Australias Test team is ultimately in the hands of the players who shape it, through their own skill and presence of mind. The next two days will, once again, tell that tale. Tony Oliva Jersey . LOUIS -- Roman Polak was celebrating even before Alexander Steen scored the winning goal in Saturdays 4-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. Jake Odorizzi Twins Jersey . It was just business as usual for the Thunder at home. Durant scored 32 points and the Thunder beat the Bulls 107-95 on Thursday night for their eighth straight win. https://www.cheaptwins.com/152t-paul-molitor-jersey-twins.html . 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While praising Hameeds remarkable second-innings half-century in Mohali, Joe Root also encouraged his young colleague to respond to his early success by working ever harder.Having received widespread acclaim at the end of the Mohali Test - not least from Indias captain, Virat Kohli - Hameed now returns to England for an operation on his hand following a serious break of his little finger. But any danger that he might let the praise go to his head - and, to be fair, it doesnt seem as if there was much danger - will have been dispelled by Roots gentle words of warning and encouragement.The only advice I gave was, make sure you dont go back to county cricket at the start of the summer and rest on your laurels, Root said. Dont think: Im a Test cricketer now.Its an opportunity to prove to everyone in county cricket that you are there for a reason. You have opportunities to make some really big scores, to keep learning and to keep improving. He has the opportunity to put the good work he has done in India into his game and continue to develop the way he has done.Roots words are both well-intentioned and wise. As he found after an encouraging start to his own career, Test cricket is hugely demanding and the pain of being dropped at the end of the Ashes tour of 2013-14 continues to motivate him.So while Hameeds start has been exciting, Root wants him to be ready for the challenges ahead and to know there is much, much more to achieve. He also warned that more will be expected of Hameed now and that will bring different challenges.Still, Hameed returns to England having made an excellent impression. It is not so much the runs he scored - two half-centuries in six innings does not look so special, after all - but the composure with which he batted under pressure and in conditions in which his colleagues have struggled. Aged 19, he already looks one of the more composed batsmen in the side.The way he played with a broken hand the other day was remarkable, Root said. For such a young lad to show composure, to manipulate the strike and also hit some of the best spinners in the world for boundaries was very, very impressivee.ddddddddddddFor a 19-year-old lad to come into this environment and be so composed and mature… You watch him practice, and you would think he had played 60 or 70 games. Its great to see someone come in with that attitude and hopefully, that stays with him for a long time.He will have different expectations in the future and that might be a different challenge. But he has got a very good head on his shoulders and he should be proud of what he has done so far. Now it is about managing those expectations and being realistic: its going to take time to keep developing and it might not always go how he wants. But sometimes you have to have those little tumbles to get right to the top. Im sure that if he does have some hard times, hell get through it.It is revealing to study Hameeds dismissals. Of the five of them, one was a run-out (for which he was largely blameless), one came as he tried to up the pace in a bid to set up a declaration in Rajkot, one came when he was the victim of a shooter in Vizag - a truly unplayable ball - and another came when he received a delivery that reared off a length in Mohali. There were one or two signs of weakness, mainly against the short ball, but his figures do not flatter him. He looked assured, elegant and ready.The ECB undertook some research a few years ago that underlined the impression that players who do well do so at the start of their Test career.There are notable exceptions either way, of course - Graham Gooch suffered a pair on debut; David Lloyd had an average of 260 after two Tests - but it might be telling that, of the last England side to reach No. 1 in the Test rankings, four of the batsmen (Alastair Cook, Andrew Strauss, Jonathan Trott and Matt Prior) made centuries on debut and two others (Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell) made half-centuries. One of the bowlers (James Anderson) took a five-for on Test debut, too, while another (Graeme Swann) too two wickets in his first over.The confidence of those early experiences may well have laid the path to subsequent success. Whichever way you look at it, Hameed would appear to have a bright future. ' ' '