It started with an argument between India’s 25 year old prodigy of a cricket Captain, Shubman Gull, and the feisty Oval Groundsman. An unusually green wicket saw first innings totals which hinted at an early finish, not the drama which we saw on the morning of the fifth day. It encapsulated the beauty and drama of sport. The packed-out ground was dominated by Indian support hoping for an unlikely series squaring result – it was noisy and raucous. I remember in 2015 when we persuaded MS Dhoni to play in a T20 Fundraiser for Help for Heroes at the Kia Oval, with Andrew Strauss and Brendon McCullum the two respective Captains. On that announcement, the ground sold out and we became a news item in India which was unheard of. India know how to bring atmosphere, as do the Argentinian football supporters.

To see the heroic and successful bowling efforts of Mohammed Siraj, who twice delivered unplayable yorkers having been deposited for six over his head, and then the one armed Woakes being prepared to play his part was sensational drama. The devil in me wanted him to face a final delivery left-handed and inside edge it for the winning run because this would have gone down in the annals of any sporting triumph. A 2-2 series draw was appropriate however to bring the curtain down on a pulsating summer series which reassured the world that Test match cricket has its place. The players have also committed to bring entertainment to the fore, you can call it Bazball if you like, but they need to fill grounds and bring in new audiences, and they are succeeding. A full ground of 22,000 for one hours play!

Almost by serendipity, my new podcast series this week, Hallers Playbook, featured the biggest corporate news in sport. This series brings together sport and business, two inextricably linked pieces of my life. My recent association as key partnerships adviser to MAS Group, one of UK’s fastest growing Fintech businesses, includes bringing these two themes together. A former playing and business colleague of mine, Mark Roberts, now Chairman of Glamorgan CC, has been at the centre of the franchise developments in cricket and we debated this game-changing development. Hundreds of millions has been brought to the whole game and let me stress this. The Sky deal which brings the Hundred to our screens and incorporates the T20 format (prediction), provides funding for all. Children and families are embracing the new formats, the game is growing in popularity and global appeal. People like Mark, a former Bath and Pontypridd front row forward fully versed in the dark arts, and the two Richards in charge at ECB, Thompson and Gould, have played a blinder. Interestingly, two ex-rugby Administrators, Stuart Cain and Mark McCafferty, have done the same up at Edgbaston in England’s second City. The key point here is that the money coming in represents a universal approach to increase the attraction of the game for all.

Meantime, the death of Australian rugby has been much exaggerated. Whether or not it was difficult to raise the levels for the British & Irish Lions to create history and win the series 3-0, the psychology was wrong. Said one player,’the only team that can beat us is ourselves’, another said pre-tour that this Lions team wished to be the best ever and do a clean sweep. A naive effort to make such a statement, the best sporting names of any sport have buckets of humility which is what sets them apart. They will learn from that especially as social media devoured that comment and handed it back with some irony after the Lions had been sent packing, it could have been a 30 point thumping if a couple of passes had gone to hand. Despite the conditions, as the Lions sought to get back into the game, a midfield of Farrell and Bundee Aki was never going to engineer a comeback. In a world of data, someone informed me that this was the slowest Lions backline in history. I can believe that. Now the dust is settling, the dispassionate view is that the Wallabies could have won the series. Well of course, but still a surprise when you look back to the total Lions dominance of the first 50 minutes of the First Test. Or not – remember 1989 when the Lions were stuffed by 30 points against a supreme Aussie side (which went on to win the World Cup) only to come back to win the series in dramatic style. Only Joe Schmidt will know why he wrapped his players in cotton wool. The depth is not really there, he will say, as for other nations but new names came in and did the damage in the third Test so it wasn’t that bad. The provincial matches were a disappointing breeze for the tourists and set them up to win the series. As David Campese said to me in the most recent Hallers Playbook podcast yesterday – a priceless 40 minutes of rugby common sense – Australian rugby must win back hearts and minds, invest in and grow the grassroots and the pipeline, not protect a small minority of players who are not often enough playing the ‘Australian way’.

Does this sound familiar? As the B&I Lions prepare to come home they must be rightfully proud of a series win, and encapsulated in that incredible comeback in the second Test. A true team effort by a group who clearly bonded well. But the R360 global club franchise proposals are circling again. Add in the recent English club franchise proposals, secretly backed by the RFU, and we have a scenario where a small minority are seeking to gain commercial traction. It is understandable but if it leaves behind the rest of the game where does that go? All the money into the top 0.5%. R360 has it right when it criticises the lack of entertainment, confusing complexity and the fragmented mismanagement of the game . There is too much Rugby league influence in both the laws and the bish-bosh attitude, frightening physicality which does work sometimes – Skelton and Valetini notably – but if our midfields and back rows do not run for space and entertain then the small minority will marginalise the game we love.

Cricket, lucky to have a supremely viable short form alternative and clearly brimming with a passionate love of the game, has shown the way. For example, how exciting is the prospect for the upcoming Ashes in Australia this winter. It remains to be seen whether our Global and National Administrators will wake up in time to balance an outcome for all.

Hallers