When Alex Carey spoke to the media at Great Barrier Reef Arena on Monday morning, he was the only international cricketer at the venue. There was the clunking and whirring of the broadcast crew derigging, branding was being taken down, and the Country Club was preparing for its daily routine.
It should have been the third day of a Test, but for the third time in seven matches in Australia, the contest had finished inside two days, this one the fourth-shortest result of all time at 750 deliveries. The local officials who delivered the ground's first Test match were no doubt relieved they had secured a Saturday start with both weekend days sold out, but Monday was also due to be close to capacity.
As with Darwin last week, this Test had drawn interest from far and wide. One gentleman who introduced himself during play, said he had driven eight hours from Innisfail, south of Cairns, and fortunately had locked in the first two days. In a similar tale, a local taxi driver said how his son was one of those playing cricket on the outfield at lunch on the second day and was excited about the potential for some autograph hunting. He will have got his chance, but no one was meeting their heroes on Monday unless bumping into them at a local cafe or at the airport.
While banking on a fourth day was always going to come with some risk, fans should have been reasonably confident of it reaching the third, but within 45 minutes of the first session on the first day, that was clearly under threat when Mitchell Starc had five wickets in 22 balls.
That, of course, was no fault of Starc, who was putting on another of his masterclasses after Australia had suffered the biggest upset in Test history just a few days earlier. Australia needed a response and, with the ball at least, it was emphatic - just too much so for those who wanted more cricket to watch.
The combination of an overwhelmed visiting side that couldn't cope with the conditions and a home side with a fragile batting order made for the perfect storm. When Australia were eight down by the first evening but already well ahead, with Shoriful Islam having followed Starc's six wickets, the writing was on the wall.
"It's a hard one, I guess, for me to comment on what the game needs," Carey said. "As a player you're playing what's in front of you and sometimes that is sped up. [The] bowlers have been fantastic. Batters can, I guess, get caught up in that momentum as well and speed up the game.
"Yeah, there's been a few [short Tests]. They've also been really entertaining Test matches. So there's a balance that needs to be there. I'm not sure how you do fix that. If we win every two-day Test match, then I'm pretty happy."
Short Test matches inevitably prompt pitch debate. There are clearly cases when they have gone too far - among Australia's two-day Tests, the Gabba in 2022 and MCG last season fit that bracket, and both were handed demerit points by ICC. But Mackay appears to fit closer to the Perth Stadium example in last season's Ashes where England's largely self-induced implosion and Travis Head's onslaught sped the game to a finish. On that occasion, the Perth pitch was given the highest rating by the ICC. Time will tell how the officials mark Mackay, but it's unlikely to be in danger of sanctions.
"Think we saw a lot of swing throughout the two days," Carey said. "Look, it nipped around a little bit, but I thought [it was] really good fast bowling. I guess some mis-execution with the bat and it leads to a shorter Test match. So full credit to bowlers on both teams."
That, in turn, reignites the SENA vs subcontinent pitch discussions. Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto referenced it in his post-match press conference. "I think we all should remember this Test match," he said. "Eighteen wickets falling on the first day of a Test in the subcontinent would have produced a lot of discussions. I would request you all not to forget [that] when we next play in the subcontinent."
It is certainly true that early spin, if that's the inference that can be drawn from Shanto's comments, often brings a different reaction to early assistance for the quicks. But the bottom line is that, aside from the players on the right side of the result, there are really no winners from two-day Tests.
Steven Smith regularly says how batting has never been tougher in Australia.
Mackay curator Peter Kazakoff said those in his profession were being challenged around the country when it came to Test cricket. "Definitely the game has changed the way the batsmen approach it," he told ABC Radio. "It's so much more aggressive now. No doubt as curators, we've got to adapt to that. It's not an 18-wicket pitch, by far. These things happen.
"Test cricket's changed; cricket's changed. We've got to try to work with that as well. We probably have to tone it down a fraction than we would've in previous years, just to keep up with the modern trend of international cricket. T20 cricket has made a huge mark on Test cricket now. I think everyone is just adapting to it."
In Australia, the pitches debate extends into the domestic Sheffield Shield which has seen the ball dominate in recent seasons. None of the top-ten run-scorers last summer averaged more than 36.41. While no firm edicts have been issued, for the 2026-27 season, curators will be urged to lean on the side of the batters; if in doubt, take some grass off rather than leave it on. There will also be small tweaks to timings, with the middle session extended by 15 minutes with the view that is the best time for batting, although that is tinkering around the edges.
While discussing Australia's batting options during the second Test, Ricky Ponting said things had gone too far at the domestic level. "Everything you hear coming back from the Shield players is how much more difficult it's become to bat in Shield cricket with the way that the wickets are," he said on Channel 7. "So if someone has a 38 average season then maybe that's a whole lot better than what it looks. I honestly feel that wickets in Australia have to change."
Australia's next destination for Tests is South Africa, the country which holds the record for the shortest ever result when the 2024 match at Cape Town involving India was over in 642 balls. That Newlands surface earned a demerit point and the following year South Africa made 615 against Pakistan to suggest the problems had been rectified.
Fitness permitting, however, there will be a compelling collection of fast bowlers with Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen lining up against Australia's great trio and the best reserve in Test cricket, Scott Boland. "I daresay our bowlers are going to enjoy some [of the] wickets over there and it'll be a great contest," Carey said.
Don't rule out another short Test among them.