Guardian
The Melbourne Ashes Test. Not just a game but also time and money
England won the fourth Ashes Test in Melbourne in two days. It was a first victory ‘down under’ for almost 15 years and completing it in two days was very unusual.
There was criticism of a bowler friendly pitch and of frenetic play more akin to short form than Test cricket.
It wasn’t just about the cricket on the pitch though.
A sell out crowd of 90,000 was expected for the third day and the financial impact will cost Cricket Australia £5m not to mention the impact on those providing food and drink and the spectators- 20,000 from England were expected on Day Three- who have tickets but no cricket
Cricket journalist Geoff Lemon makes a wider point
Waking up on 28 December with no cricket to switch on will be wrong, in some deeper way. England’s win could fairly be described as hollow, a shootout that sets them at 3-1 in a series lost, but had Australia taken four more wickets on this second afternoon, the gonging emptiness at the centre of this display would have rung as loud.
The time between Christmas and New Year is for many (far from all) a quiet time when the Boxing Day Test provides a point of interest and discussion. Yet three days of it have just been summarily abolished
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