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‘Such a special sport’: How Pat Cummins and his men have captured the nation through the magic of Test cricket

The common conception around the world is Test cricket is dying, if not already dead.

In some areas of the globe, sure, the argument can be made but just look at the five Tests this summer in Australia, there is certainly a pulse.

Walking through the SCG on all three days, the childhood love of cricket is still there.

Usman Khawaja walks out on to the SCG. Getty

Kids are bowling to each other with bins for stumps, or stumps painted on to the walls.

When it comes to the adults, the classic beer snakes are back, the Mexican wave spreads around the ground, with the signature boo when it reaches the members.

Scott Boland snags another wicket. He runs to fine leg and it's the loudest applause you'll hear all day. He's the king of the MCG and now the SCG, too.

The boos come for Virat Kohli every time he walks on to the field. But he gives it back with his sandpaper references. It's good theatre.

'Such a special sport': How Pat Cummins and his men have captured the nation through the magic of Test cricket

Virat Kohli cops it from the SCG crowd after his dismissal.  Getty

Across the full Test series, the total attendance was 837,879. Day one's crowd at the SCG was 47,998. That was the largest individual day attendance at the SCG against India, breaking the 2003/04 day one crowd of 44,901.

The Boxing Day Test had 350,700 people come through the gates. It exceeded the greatest ever total attendance figure at the MCG, which was previously set in 1937 against England over six days.

"It's so much fun first of all. We all grew up watching Test cricket, loving it … you wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the world for these couple of months," Australian captain Pat Cummins said after the fifth Test.

"Wherever we went in the country it was so well supported. It felt like everyone was talking about it and it's just so much fun.

"Last week in Melbourne I've never seen anything like it and then it was much the same here in Sydney. We've seen hundreds of metres of people lining up at 7 o'clock in the morning to get in for day one. It's just really special, such a special sport that we get to play, it seems like every year it gets better and better."

The presence of India certainly helped this summer.

When Shamar Joseph pulled off the unthinkable last year, the empty Gabba crowd certainly left a tinge of emptiness.

'Such a special sport': How Pat Cummins and his men have captured the nation through the magic of Test cricket

Shamar Joseph celebrates at the Gabba.  Getty

The ICC still has plenty of work ahead in countries outside Australia, India and England if red-ball cricket is to survive.

Nonetheless, the rise of this Australian team under Pat Cummins has been incredible. And it's clear the Aussie fans have endeared themselves to this group, regardless of the minority who call Cummins "captain woke".

Spare a thought for Maurice Newman, who wrote in 2023 that "embarrassing defeats in India suggest our national sport suffers a deep cultural malady".

"No longer are pride, preparation and resilience considered core values," he continued.

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'Such a special sport': How Pat Cummins and his men have captured the nation through the magic of Test cricket

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Since then, Australia has won the World Test Championship, ODI World Cup, Border-Gavaskar Trophy and retained the Ashes.

Comments from well respected Indian commentator Harsha Bhogle during the SCG Test tell a different story to that supposed "deep cultural malady".

"Everywhere I go, I have to tell people that cricket in Australia is a beautiful illusion," Indian commentator Harsha Bhogle said on the ABC.

"Test cricket is a beautiful illusion. Because I see cricket around the world, and I do not see this kind of support for Test cricket anywhere."

The heart of Test cricket is still beating, bring on the Ashes.

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