Test cricket, eh?
In the last hour of the fifth day from SCG, our Channel 7 studio was filled with grown men and women screaming at the television.
For all the talk about 'dead rubbers' and matches that don't matter, Sunday was proof not only of all the players caring so deeply about every game for their country, but also of the way Test cricket was played. How sports, history and culture decide. The world wants to see the important moments.
One of the main reasons scenes like the closing stages are so gripping is how it creates a sense of nostalgia.
How it felt to be Mitchell Johnson's knock on Graeme Smith, Michael Clarke's finish against India and Steve Smith's wicket in the second last over.
Those are the moments when you are instantly drawn back to childhood memories of wonderful moments in the game.
Then, like all of a sudden, you remember you're in the middle of the balls and the match could go another way you can't imagine.
Test cricket is one of the only sports that can give you all those different emotional connects and still produce no results.
Some call it silly and some are beautiful.
Some will ask about the timing of the announcement, some will ask about the bowlers for certain phases of the game, but broadly speaking, we ask Pat Cummins and his entire Australian team their full commitment to whatever they have decided to do. Is.
Barring that last wicket, it looked like whenever he tried to do something, it worked.
Getting into the competition and starting with the English side of things, we have seen some really disappointing results for England this summer.
But the biggest positive for me in this Test match was one player showing why he needed to play every Test match when he was fit - Jonny Bairstow.
Coming to the crease with Ben Stokes on the anniversary of his father's death, when the score was 4/36 in the first innings, Bairstow struck one blow after another, but still scored one of the centuries that ended his career. is defining.
Bairstow also showed the power to be aggressive in that partnership with Stokes against a domineering team like Australia.
As a prime example, Nathan Lyon went for just 2.1 runs per over for the first three Tests. But during the Bairstow-Stokes partnership, Lyon went at 6.5 runs per over.
Stuart Broad, not being picked for every Test and outspoken about it, came in and showed his class with ball in hand.
Broad broke successive partnerships and, in Australia's first innings, took another five runs to add to his illustrious career. He is now only three wickets away from taking the most Ashes wickets by an Englishman, just behind Ian Botham's 128 at 125.
To put this in perspective, he is comfortably ahead of his teammate James Anderson, who has 13 fewer wickets in another Test match.
Broad was also a vital cog in England's existence on the fifth day, faced 35 balls and survived the onslaught of pace before batting against spin.
Where else can we start other than Usman Khawaja's truly historic performance going forward in Australia, and on his return to the Test side.
He was only the third player after Doug Walters and Ricky Ponting to score a century in each innings of the SCG Test.
On a pitch that was occasionally up and down and some serious assists for the fast bowlers, 'Uzi' came in and felt like home from the start.
Khawaja's last game of cricket was for Australia A a month back. It's ridiculous to get into Test cricket after such a long downtime and immediately find your best form.
As we have seen with his dancing on the field in Adelaide and the support of his fellow cricketers, the general public is becoming more aware of who he is and why he is loved so much.
The grandeur of the pull shot, his offside play and especially how he dominated the spin with his reverse sweep and use of legs; Everything I knew and loved from watching Khawaja play for New South Wales at the same venue.
Meanwhile, Scott Boland's performance is again reminiscent of Vernon Philander's Test debut for South Africa.
Boland's skills with a bolt upright seam, reverse swing both ways and big top-order wickets in both innings show that he is here as a real contender to play in any Test match, not just for the short term. is in.
But Boland and Khawaja's performances share an important link.
Boland's performance at the MCG was celebrated with the Johnny Mullagh Medal, which highlighted his Indigenous heritage and inspired all Australians, including Indigenous boys and girls, that if you set your mind to the goal, this is what you achieve. can do.
The importance of his consecutive centuries with Khawaja could peak in March.
Although everyone knows Khawaja as a NSW junior and now Queensland captain, this performance at the SCG could mean a Test match in Pakistan. Honoring the legacy of his family in the country of his birth could be the pinnacle of his career if that were to happen.
In every Test match, Australia has players from outside the so-called best XI. This is surprising for the strength of the team, but it also presents an unbearable headache for selectors Tony Dodemad, George Bailey and Justin Langer.
We know Josh Hazlewood will not play in Hobart in Brisbane due to his side strain, but should Jhye Richardson be fit again and available for selection, where does he fit in?
Richardson was initially ahead of Boland in the pecking order, and took five wickets in the second innings at Adelaide.
The big question for the batsmen comes about the return of Travis Head.
Pre-Sydney, the promise was that Head was sure of a spot in Hobart, so what does this mean for a player who has scored just two centuries in a Test?
Marcus Harris played his best innings of the summer in Melbourne, which went a long way towards Australia, with whom they could win the game. But of course you cannot drop Usman from the team.
It's brutal at times and I think Marcus Harris is good enough to play Test cricket.
But if we remember the golden years of Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Steve and Mark Waugh and the like, we had 15 players good enough to play Test cricket but unfortunately because of the strength of the team, they were ' All are able to fit in with only six spots available to the batsmen.
Success brings great things, but it also brings challenges for the selectors. It will be interesting to see what happens to the Australian team on Friday.