If an Ashes Test match had been scheduled in Sydney this week, serious questions would be asked about whether it should go ahead. Only after high-level discussions has Cricket NSW agreed to stage Big Bash League games as planned. An international fixture would be subject to greater pressures.

Just as the world is shrinking, however, Australia’s internal distances feel less like a tyranny than a freedom. Adelaide is a long way from eastern Sydney. While the match will be played under a shadow, it will also express sport’s capacity to unite via the diversion of a simple, easy-to-understand contest backed by nearly 150 years of tradition.

Big sport is nearly always played in the aftermath of terrible events. Only the scale varies. The last Test match came just days after the death of Robin Smith. The players’ role is more complex than it seems: to recognise and remember while also shrugging off and forgetting. There is deep and genuine sadness, but then the muscle memory kicks in. Cricket may only be a matter of grown men doing........

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