In the fallout from Melbourne, the Sydney Test match has the feeling of a realigned contest. It’s not England versus Australia so much as bat versus ball, in which the batting units of both teams are striving side-by-side to regain their honour.

Collectively, both teams’ top orders have been damned by their actions. At stake are not those long-ago Ashes but the future of Test cricket.

For such a cameo, Melbourne has sparked a full five days’ worth of debate over whether Test match batsmen are worthy of the name.

The retirement of Usman Khawaja has come to feel like another step in the extinction of a species. Are Australia and England, and while we’re at it the rest of the cricket world, capable of producing batsmen who can resist the urge to take shortcuts (otherwise known as “hitting the bowlers off their length” and “taking on the game”)?

Two days in Melbourne, as well as leaving cricket stomachs less than half-full, has left a lot of hand-wringing. It seemed like an anomaly, but it’s raised the question whether this is the way things will be forever.

Mediating the contest are the pitch and the........

© Brisbane Times