After T20 World Cup weeks in which the MCG held crowds well on the way to filling it, we came to this. Melbourne turning on another unseasonably cold November day, scattered rain breaking up preparation and play, a Tuesday afternoon before schools were on holiday or workers were bunking off, and an embarrassingly paltry turnout for the third and final one-day international to watch Australia thump England by 221 runs.
Walking through Yarra Park less than an hour before play, the approach was so quiet that it felt like going to a Sheffield Shield match. No one was lining up, the parking areas were open grass. There were fewer than 5,000 people in the ground for the first ball after England won the toss and chose to bowl, and fewer still remaining after the visitors were all out for 142 in reply to Australia’s 355 for five, the target adjusted for rain to 364.
