It started with whether David Warner had earned the right to finish on a high as a Test opener. And it’s ended with whether Steve Smith can start afresh as a Test opener. It began with Marnus Labuschagne not sounding very keen to replace Warner at the top and finished with Labuschagne sounding very keen about Smith being perfect to replace Warner at the top.

With 10 days still to go for that first Test against the West Indies, more importantly the first Test of the post-Warner era, the identity of the batter who’ll walk out with Usman Khawaja at the Adelaide Oval still doesn’t seem like an open-and-shut case.

Much like the Pakistan series that concluded on Saturday (January 6), which despite the 3-0 whitewash result felt anything like being open-and-shut. It was if anything among the most closely-fought 3-0 series you’ll see on these shores. One where Pakistan came closer than any team bar India in recent summers, to really get into positions from where they could potentially have won a Test, maybe even should have.

After two straight summers where Australia went ahead and stayed ahead across 10 straight Tests, the largely unfancied tourists under new leader Shan Masood came very close to beating the home team at their own game without finding that one big final push to get over the line.

It didn’t start too well at Perth of course, where they squandered opportunities with bat and ball, and were shot out of contention very early. Firstly, by David Warner, who made what would be his final Test ton and a brilliant one at that, and then by the might of the Australian bowling battery in the second innings. And you couldn’t deny the feeling of ‘oh here we go again’, as we moved to Melbourne for the Boxing Day Test.

Here, they went against the grain, by taking the initiative to organise a two-day practice match before Christmas. And even if it didn’t prove to answer too many questions, they seemed a more disciplined unit with the ball come the Test at the MCG. Like the Indians did three years prior, they managed to always stay within range without letting Australia power away and spread the margin too wide in the first innings. Including when it came to the lead that Australia finished with, albeit on a bowling-friendly pitch.

Then came the moment, which will probably be replayed a number of times over the next few years when an opposition team believes that it’s got a Test within its grasp in Australia, where Abdullah Shafique dropped the simplest of catches off Mitchell Marsh, with the lead a mere 70 runs. That the all-rounder would then end up playing arguably his best Test knock on home soil to date, only further signified the importance of that slip-up.

Pakistan had their moments in the run-chase as well of course and it took the brilliance of Pat Cummins to repeatedly thwart their hopes on the fourth day. You could say the same about their eventual defeat in Sydney as well. Unlike many teams in the last decade who have come over and lost matches before even throwing a punch. Here, Pakistan kept getting Australia’s world-class performers to bring out their absolute best in order to beat them.

That in itself added to the quality of the contest, creating some of the most exciting moments of Test cricket we’ve seen on Australian soil for a while.

Like the thrill-a-minute excitement late on Day 3 in front of a baying SCG crowd, all decked in pink, as Josh Hazlewood tore through the Pakistan middle-order with a triple-wicket maiden. Labuschagne would refer to it as the best hour of Test cricket he’s been a part of.

The spell from Cummins in the first innings at the SCG to back-up the 10-wicket haul he’d produced a few days earlier in Melbourne. The masterclass from Labuschagne across both innings in Sydney on a dry, two-paced SCG pitch. And that vintage Warner special to see off his glorious Test career on the fourth morning.

Aamer Jamal will be remembered fondly for his spirited displays in what was his maiden Test series
Aamer Jamal will be remembered fondly for his spirited displays in what was his maiden Test series ©AFP

Even in terms of individual brilliance though, it wasn’t always just all Australia. After two summers where no real visiting player enhanced their reputation upon leaving these shores, there were a few relatively-unknown names who ended up making quite an impression for Pakistan. Leading the way was the player of the match from the third Test, Aamer Jamal. A passionate cricketer who influenced matches with bat and ball and will be remembered fondly for his spirited displays in what was his maiden Test series. It’s a pity he couldn’t end up with a Test win for his country to show for it.

He started the series with a six-wicket bag on debut in Perth. But it was his second six-wicket haul, at the SCG, where he really ended up gaining a bit of a cult status amongst the more neutral of fans. After having bowled some of the most eye-catching deliveries from a Pakistan perspective earlier in the series, his complete demolition of the Australian lower-order, taking four wickets in less than a dozen deliveries changed the complexion of the match, and even gave Pakistan a rare first-innings lead. It was his extraordinary last-wicket partnership with Mir Hamza in the first innings, where he deposited Hazlewood over the mid-wicket boundary a few times and finished 14 short of a maiden Test ton, that had given Pakistan a foothold in the match to start with.

Speaking of Hamza, his spell under the darkened Melbourne skies with the new-ball on the third afternoon, was as good an inquisition of the Australian batting line-up as there has been in these conditions in a long time.

As is the case in Test series which don’t get dominated by one or two individual batters, the nip and tuck between the two teams produced a number of gripping sessions of play, only that Pakistan didn’t manage to hold their nerve as a collective, with bat, ball or in the field, for long enough, or when it mattered most. And while it remains to be seen when they get their next chance to set an ignominious Test record right in Australia, Masood & Co. deserve a lot of credit for ensuring that that visit will be looked forward to with a lot more expectation than how their three-match was viewed only a month ago.