Who'd have thought I'd be writing a column on a Monday morning to say I enjoyed a local A-League game more than the cricket Test over the weekend.

Saturday night's Sydney FC v Melbourne Victory game was as absorbing as any sporting event you could hope to watch.

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New FFA boss David Gallop texted me at the end: "Cracking game."

And it was.

Meanwhile, up at the Gabba the first cricket Test of the summer is under way.

Most people are working at 11am on a Friday when the series starts and play is over by the time you get home.

The sooner day-night Tests are introduced the better. On the weekend, no one has time to sit on the couch for a game that goes five days.

Maybe older cricket traditionalists do but the modern family doesn't.

Test cricket is not dying but it has its problems.

There was always a fear in this country that the game would struggle when we lost Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Adam Gilchrist and even Matthew Hayden.

Almost overnight, the sport lost its star factor.

Kids were not running around the local park saying they wanted to be the next Nathan Lyon, James Pattinson or Matthew Wade.

Only Dave Warner had the same excitement value and the superstar appeal of the man he replaced.

Even Michael Clarke, who scored 329 at the SCG last summer, is still not as admired or as popular as Steve Waugh. Not with my age group anyway.

The cricket Test in Brisbane just ambled along. South Africa batted beautifully but it all got a bit monotonous.

Meanwhile, the A-League was edge-of-your-seat sport for two full-on hours.

I'm sitting there with my children, who would never stay still for a cricket Test.

A Big Bash game, yes, possibly parts of a one-dayer, but never the red-ball version of the game unless maybe Warner is on the warpath.

The game at Allianz Stadium had everything.

More than 21,000 fans turn up, most of them desperate for the home side to bounce back from the previous week's 7-2 shellacking.

The Fox Sports coverage is outstanding. The commentators are slick and exciting but not over the top.

Alessandro Del Piero is back from injury and Sydney FC get a 2-0 lead. They looked home.

But the super coach with the world's hardest name to pronounce, Ange Postecoglou, sends out an unknown teenager Andrew Nabbout to liven up the Melbourne attack. They still trail by two goals with 15 minutes remaining.

The rookie bangs in two goals, one a booming shot which would have done Del Piero proud.

Another from Socceroo Archie Thompson and Victory win 3-2. You feel desperately sorry for Sydney FC. Unlike the previous week, they had turned up to play - but couldn't hang on.

Sydney's coach Ian Crook resigns from his job after the game. It showed just how much was at stake.

It explained why the theatre and the passion on the field had been so powerful in a gripping two hours.

It showed that cricket now has a serious summer sporting alternative.

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