So what to make of the Colonial experience? Success or failure; precedent
or pilot study; innovative or merely educative?
In truth, it's probably too early to cast a definitive judgement. But, in
the short term at least, it's hard to be anything other than positive about
what has occurred here in Melbourne over the course of the past five days.
Ironically enough, the Victorian capital's weather has been laced with
enough sunshine over the past week to ensure that the threat of weather
substantially interrupting proceedings would have been minimal even if this
series had remained outdoors. There can be little doubt, though, that
cricket has been taken to a new level by virtue of what has occurred here.
To borrow heavily from one famous advertising catchcry, the coming of the
Super Challenge 2000 series will not change the face of cricket overnight.
But, in time, it is very likely that it will help to make new things happen.
While a headlong rush toward the birth, and utilisation, of more indoor
stadiums will hardly be the consequence, the potential utility of enclosed
settings has been demonstrated in spades this week. It's no accident that
there have already been more than idle murmurings about the development of
such a venue in New Zealand, and you can almost guarantee that
administrators in other settings will find the idea attractive too.
The immediate prospect that all countries administrators can come close to
constructing or accessing such facilities in their own homelands is a
remote one, of course. In South Africa, for instance, a higher priority
clearly remains the promotion of the game into the country's townships.
But there is not a single city in the world that can deliver perfect
weather conditions all of the time - that much is obvious. Whether it's
the oppressive heat of many centres on the subcontinent; the mix of
similarly hot weather, high humidity and unexpected occasional downpours in
the Caribbean, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Australia; or the cooler climes
of New Zealand and England, the value of such a facility is abundantly
clear.
Think not only of the proliferation of one-day internationals themselves
over the last three decades. Cast your attention too toward the massive
range of technical improvements made in the preparation of pitches and
outfields. Contemplate the improvements that have been made in the
construction of stands the world over. Devote some consideration to the
mass expansion in the use of electronic scoreboards and giant replay
screens. In an era in which cricket's battle to continue to attract new
devotees (to add to the strong traditional core of supporters it retains)
is being compromised by the growth of an increasingly competitive sporting
marketplace, these things happen for a compelling reason. For all of its
wonderful history, tradition and romanticism, cricket simply will not
survive without continuing to embrace change, without continuing to enhance
the creature comforts available to spectators, and without doing so in a
bold fashion.
"The pitch has been great, the outfield has improved, the facilities are
terrific ... it can stand up in the long term. We will do it again; it's
just a question of when we can do it and when we can fit it into our
schedule. Generally, we're very pleased with it," said Australian Cricket
Board Chief Executive Officer, Malcolm Speed, late on the final afternoon.
It's wrong to draw too long a bow, but the sentiments expressed by a
significant number of the fans who came to the stadium underline the point
too. Among those to whom CricInfo spoke at various stages of the week, it
was difficult to find as much as one spectator who was anything less than
impressed by the spectacle and the comfort that Colonial afforded them.
Difficult it was to find anybody disagreeing with the suggestion that the
event should definitely be repeated again in the near future. That old
chestnut - that something along these lines should be done to limit the
prospect of weather ruining matches - reared its head on a fairly
repetitive basis too.
Among the players themselves, strong support was also abundant. South
African captain Shaun Pollock experienced some reservations about the
quality of the outfield but was otherwise adamant that this series
represented a great advertisement for the game.
"It is a great concept ... maybe they could have a game here on the normal
tours. In the Carlton and United Series, maybe one of the games should be
played here. If not, why not?"
Steve Waugh also seemed to sum up the general feeling in concluding that
"it's a great place to play cricket."
"The crowd seemed to enjoy it; the players certainly enjoyed it."
As for the South Africans, they now head to Singapore; four of the
Australians return to the gruelling county circuit, and the rest of
Australians to various ports for two months before their commitments at
home start up again. Rest assured that in boardrooms across the cricketing
world, though, the impact of this series will continue to assume a leading
position on the agenda and be scrutinised and analysed for some time to
come. Exhaustively so, in fact.