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The Cricket World Cup final was just a warm-up. The two best teams in the world have embarked on a rivalry that goes far beyond a pair of ODIs across our two countries.
And if what we’ve seen over the past six weeks is any indication, the thought of Australia playing New Zealand across six Test matches and two nations over the course of the 2015-16 summer is as juicy as the plentiful stonefruit I’ll enjoy while watching it unfold.
That’s not to say that this six-Test super series is going to have it all its own way.
Aside from those trans-Tasman tours (New Zealand’s of Australia in November/December, and Australia’s of New Zealand in February of 2015), Australia have two awkward series squeezed in the middle; two Tests against the West Indies and a random limited-overs series against India.
So while I can barely wait for the clashes with the Kiwis, even after a long summer which included plenty of days fielding on a hot paddock and not as many wickets as I’d hoped for, the other two series I can take or let through to Brad Haddin – they seem wedged in the middle as a testament to our enduring distain for the Golden Mean fallacy.
Cricketing scheduling has always been a matter of dumb luck. In this case, bring on the happy result of the stupidity, because it’s landed us with six mouthwatering Test fixtures, with the two sides playing for the trans-Tasman trophy twice in the space of three months.
At this point I will stop to ask: would it not be a more exciting prospect if we just agreed to combine the tours into one super series?
I know, I know – the Future Tours program means that next year’s Test fixtures are well fossilised in the bedrock of the cricketing schedule.
But surely this relic of the planning approach could make way simply on the premise that we saw play out through the 2015 Cricket World Cup, co-hosted by the two best teams in the world on both islands.
And yes, I know that whatever the case, people will treat it as such anyway, but should there not at least be some official recognition of these six Tests as a sole entity, rather than two isolated events in the confusing cricketing world.
We’ve seen the beginning of it.
New Zealand narrowly beat Australia on a bowler-friendly wicket in the Land of the Long White Cloud, and Australia romped home in the final at the MCG. That final merely laid the foundation – it didn’t fulfil the promise.
Three-Test series are great. Two-Test series are also great. Five-Test series are better.
A six-Test series between two of the best attacks in the world, who will be battling some of the world’s form batsmen over five days with a red ball? That’s a cricketing wet dream.
Instead of Mitchell Starc, Trent Boult, Tim Southee and Josh Hazlewood’s curve diminishing after the white ball lacquer cracks (a matter of five deliveries), we’ll see techniques tested over the first 20 overs.
Those in-form and with the requisite technique and temperament will prosper. The mentally weak will crumble in the face of a sledging barrage, likely spewing from the mouth of Brad Haddin. Or they will succumb to a Mitchell Johnson bouncer barrage. If Neil Wagner is playing, he will bounce absolutely everyone, without remorse, too.
I doubt Brendon McCullum will change his game plan at the crease, but Martin Guptill will have a lot more time to build those mammoth innings that he showed he was capable of in the World Cup.
Watching the Aussie batsmen test themselves against Boult and Southee swinging that red ball around for overs upon overs is the best prospective match-up I could think of in world cricket.
Whether such an agreement is possible, or even if we could acknowledge the six-Test series in an unofficial but still meaningful way, it’s worth it.
Six-Test series simply do not exist in this age of the Future Tours Program.
I say let’s make this Future Tour a six-stop program. It’s going to be a ball-tearer, and deserves to be seen as a whole, rather than two halves.
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