When I was growing up in Melbourne, one of our annual rituals was to attend at least one day of the Boxing Day Test match at the MCG. If possible, I would try and attend the first day, Boxing Day itself, when up to 100,000 fans filled the stadium to capacity. On such days, there would be the anticipation of a brand new Test and if an opposition wicket fell early, the roar of the crowd was so loud that it would reverberate through your body.

Since leaving Melbourne in 1985, I still took the opportunity, whenever I was back, to fit in a day at the Test, taking my sons along as they grew up so that they too could enjoy this wonderful ritual.

As I grew older some of my friends became Melbourne Cricket Club members after being on the waiting list for over 20 years, so I was able to sit in the members stand as their guest. Here the crowds were more polite than the heaving masses who used to bay for English blood in the famous bay 13 of the MCG.

Action after uncertainty

In this strangest of years, 2020, I again planned to make the pilgrimage to the MCG. My earliest opportunity to attend would be on Day 4 of the Test, so I booked tickets well in advance. With the Adelaide Test ending in under three days, I became nervous about whether the Melbourne Test would make it that long. That fear was compounded by Australia’s poor batting performance in Melbourne.

But, thankfully, the Test crept into a fourth day and we arrived not knowing whether the day’s play would all be over in under an hour or whether Australia would fight back and set an ambitious target for India to chase.

A few months ago, we weren’t even sure if there would be a Melbourne Test or even if we could visit. For five months, the city was locked down to the rest of Australia as it battled to get Covid under control. Thankfully the city opened up in November as cases were reduced to zero. But ongoing restrictions meant the stands were less than a third full. My friend James and I sat together in the members stand but had to be well separated from other spectators. Still it was great to be back and the ground looked magnificent bathed in sunshine.

While I was living in Calcutta, I had managed to visit Eden Gardens once to attend an IPL game but it was my great regret that I never got to experience Test cricket at that ground.

I am of the generation that believes Test cricket is the ultimate cricketing battle. And while the crowd was largely pro-Australian, there was a large contingent of loud and excited Indian supporters led by the Bharat Army who were beating their drums and waving their flags. The large Indian diaspora in Australia means India always has excellent crowd support, even outnumbering Australian supporters in some of the earlier tour games.

Indian skipper Ajinkya Rahane shakes hands with his Aussie counterpart Tim Paine at the end of the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne. (Getty Images)

Green to Gill, hope soars and plummets

As play unfolded, we heartily cheered every Australian run. We joked that we were particularly pleased when Australia’s lead passed 36 as we knew we now had a hope, ever so slight. But with the departure of Australia’s last recognised batsman, Cameron Green, there was a feeling of hope deflating. India’s target of 70 at least meant we would have another hour or so to enjoy the cricket. And two early wickets raised hopes in the crowd. But Gill and Rahane soon knocked off the remaining runs with a minimum of fuss, bringing our day at the cricket to a premature end. It had lasted longer than expected but not as long as we had dared hope.

Cold comfort

In some ways the end was also a relief. The shade offered by the big stands in Melbourne and the mild summer weather meant we felt rather cold sitting up high up, watching India cruise to victory, and it was good to feel the warmth of the sun as we left the mighty stadium. We left the Bharat Army to celebrate their victory. But cricket is a game where fortunes can change quickly. We’d seen enough in the past three hours to know that while Australia was down, we were not out. Our team would be back to fight another day.

Andrew Ford is the former consul general of Australia in Calcutta