The Down Under summer may have produced a mixed bag of results for Australia, but that is not a bad thing for cricket in general.

Six completed Test matches gave the home team a healthy 5-1 lead, but the singular loss to the Windies may have soured the summer for Pat Cummins’ men while leaving a tingly taste in the mouths of the wider cricket community.

Test cricket is a game best served by experienced players, but the exceptions that prove the rule are scattered about like gold nuggets on Bondi Beach and the game and the fans are all the better for them.

A recurring theme for column fillers and schooner drinkers has been the demise of Test cricket, yet support through the turnstiles and on the small screens seems to indicate otherwise. The argument in Australia prior to Pakistan’s arrival was based around the local knowledge that Pakistan are hopeless away from home, were missing some top talent and hadn’t won over here since Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis were curling it around corners. No matter the result, the play was compelling; only Pakistan’s butterfingers proving decisive.

The emergence of Amir Jamal, ostensibly a seam bowler but with loads of ticker with the bat and ball, gave heart to those in Sialkot and Sydney. He was up to Test cricket and he was up to the world champions. A Test cricketer for now and the future.

Mohammad Rizwan thrilled the crowds and chilled the bowlers. Apart from the odd spillage Pakistan fielded with urgency and intent. Terrific Test cricket.

Shamar Joseph celebrates a remarkable Test victory with teammates at the Gabba.Credit: Getty

The West Indian and South American Shamar Joseph may well have been an Inca chief when he passed through immigration so little was known of him. He departed Terra Australis a superstar on two continents and an archipelago. There was never to be a low pressure T20 introduction to the big time, a la David Warner, for the man from Berbice, instead he had the luxury of plenty of balls to face and more than four overs to bowl.

Learning on the job is par for the course these days as competitive warm-up first-class games are few and far between. Joseph was a quick study indeed. The cricket world is a better place for the West Indies giving some untested talent a spot when their franchise veterans couldn’t work up the enthusiasm. Moreover, Joseph’s performance led to a most unexpected win.