The Boxing Day classic between Australia and India has made test cricket is relevant again | Cornes

Words, be they written or spoken, can often come back to haunt you. The Boxing Day classic has made Test cricket relevant again, writes Graham Cornes.

“THE Boxing Day Test. It may very well be the most over-hyped event on the Australian sporting calendar.”

That went well….not. Words, be they written or spoken, can often come back to haunt you; particularly written words because they are permanent, indelible. You can’t deny them; you can’t escape them.

So this is a mea culpa, as difficult as it is, directed to those Victorians who have been offended by the attack on their precious MCG and its Boxing Day test match.

There’s always an outlier.

Day 5 of the Boxing Day Test match at the MCG . Yashasvi Jaiswa argues with the umpires after DRS overturned his not out decision sending the Indian on his way . Picture: Michael Klein

This was it. Just when you are expecting another boring cricket match that is beset by a substandard pitch or one that peters out in a draw or a one-sided result, Melbourne delivers one of the classics. Last week’s Boxing Day test was exactly that - a classic.

The record book will show Australia won by 184 runs but it was much closer than that. Memorable batting performances, heroic bowling spells, game changing bursts of unorthodox brilliance and a gripping finish kept the game in doubt until the last session. Of course there was also the mandatory umpiring controversy that invoked the outpouring of condemnation from the disappointed Indian fans.

Did that ball really hit Yashasvi Jaiswal’s glove? I’m with the Indian fans on this one.

There was no spike of the Snicko mike and the supposed deviation after the ball had passed the glove could have been an optical illusion or caused by the aerodynamics of the ball. Either way it was not easy to see.

Why have the technology if you are not going to trust it? Did the third umpire have no sense of drama?

The accusations of Australian cheating from that legion of Indian fans may be misguided given the umpires are neutral, but who can deny their passion.

Nevertheless, it was highly unlikely that India would win, even had Jaiswal survived, but stranger sporting results have happened. Jaiswal, despite his first innings failure on Friday in Sydney has been one of the revelations of this Indian summer. The Indian fans knew but he took most Australians by surprise.

Australian players celebrate the final wicket on day five of the fourth cricket Test match. Photo by Martin Keep.

True, he has had some problems holding his catches but his batting reveals a prodigious talent and a fresh-faced attitude that belies the fractious attitudes so often seen from the Indian touring party this summer. He exudes a serious passion for the game not to mention an attractive batting style.

However, for all its highlights, the Boxing Day match will be remembered most for the debut of a young batting prodigy called Sam Konstas. In the space of 15 scintillating minutes he may very well have changed the face of Test cricket.

He certainly changed the look of the game with his outrageous attempts to play the ramp shot against the best bowler in the world. It was impossible to turn away, such was the magnetic appeal of his batting.

Who can remember a more breathtaking moment in test cricket. Not since 1993 when Shane Warne completely bamboozled Mike Gatting with his first Test ball in England, has one player threatened to change the game. Of course, early praise does not guarantee longevity in the game but there is no doubt Konstas is special. True, his batting still has to pass the test of time and opposition tactics.

For instance, India’s tactics of having a fly slip and and a deep fine leg in the opening overs of the second innings in Melbourne and subsequently in Sydney seemed to stifle his flair. However, his enthusiasm and appeal will attract a new generation of fans to the game. Old-school cricketers may frown at his audacity and grandstanding to the fans in the outer but it’s a new world. It might smack of “look-at-me” showmanship, but those who know the young man and have seen his commitment, passion and love of the game from an early age, will tell you he is not afflicted with egotism.

He has worked diligently and passionately at his craft and deserves any success that comes his way. Besides, don’t tell this younger generation what they can’t do; don’t restrict them with rules and mindless discipline.

Give them their heads and let them show you what they can do. It might not have worked for Ian Chappell or Alan Border, but it seems to be working for Pat Cummins. After all, when test cricket seems threatened by the shorter forms of the game, players like Konstas and Jaiswal can guarantee its revival and survival.

It has been a great test series thus far, even if it seems the ball has dominated the bat. India is fast becoming Australia’s biggest rival in test cricket. Could they replace England? Ashes test series have always been special and highly anticipated.

The West Indies were once our favourites but they are now a poor example of the teams that terrorised Australian batsmen and thrilled us with their batting flair. However, not now. Cricket in the West Indies has been undermined by the lure of the lucrative short forms of the game.

Young talent has been diluted by the intrusion of American sports. No longer are they a threat. But India? They’ve challenged the established order and just as they cast off the yoke of the British Empire in 1947, they’ve now become the most dominant influence in world cricket.

Given the multitude of Indian expatriates now residing in Australia, our Australian cricket is much richer for it. The atmosphere at matches rivals anything the Balmy Army can produce at Ashes test matches.

Given that on any given weekend, the local parks and pitches seem dominated by cricketers of subcontinent descent, one wonders how long it will be before a player of Indian heritage pulls on a baggy-green hat.

However with India’s ever-increasing status comes an arrogance and a disregard for protocol and etiquette. The powerful Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) seems to make its own rules.

A player from any other country would have been suspended for what Virat Kohli did when he intentionally bumped Sam Konstas. A superstar he is, but his aura is fading and his talent is diminishing. He is revered in India and has been genuinely admired here in Australia but he cannot allow his legacy to be undermined by petulance, arrogance and a disregard for the integrity of the game.

There have been many highlights in this Indian summer of cricket but no one has performed more consistently than India’s opening bowler Jasprit Bumrah.

The statistics say he is the best bowler in the world. That may be so and given the number of times the Australian batsmen have played and missed balls he has delivered with that unique action, his figures should be even greater. He is genuinely likeable, which is not always a characteristic of fast bowlers.

His only discernible reaction is a wry smile on the rare occasion a batsman punishes his bowling. If his batsmen were as reliable as he has been, this series would be a lot closer. Still, the same could be said for Australia’s top order batsmen.

Australia must be favoured to win back the Border-Gavaskar Shield but it doesn’t really matter. It’s been a great summer, test cricket is relevant again and at last we had a great Boxing Day test match at the MCG.