GEORGIE PARKER: Steve Smith put on a master class while women’s Ashes draws large crowd as well

The summer of men’s Test cricket is over — and it was amazing.

Incredible finishes, record crowds and a new interest in the sport (partly thanks to Sam Konstas’ Boxing Day efforts).

But, cricket isn’t over.

We still have the Big Bash, where now these Australian players are back in the sides (albeit briefly) and our interest has automatically increased.

Some are old stars we know and already love, Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschange for example, and others are new in our mind, who we’re starting to learn about after their Test debuts like Kostas and Beau Webster.

Smith struck an amazing ton in his first game back for the Sydney Sixers, hitting 121 off 64 balls, in front of a 31,165 strong crowd — 12,000 more people than the average at the SCG prior to this match.

For me, this says that if people know the players who are on the park and know what they can offer, there is more reason for them to watch the match.

We all know that Smith has played himself back in to form this summer during the Indian series, and we know when he is flying, he is seriously good and worth watching.

So I have a few thoughts about this. One, is we want these guys playing as much as we can, because they’re good and they bring so many more eyes to the competition.

But the other one, is it just cements even further the fact that if you know who and what you’re, you’re more interested.

It might have been Smith that brought an extra 12,000 people to the ground that day, but then from that, you watch Sean Abbott nearly get a hat-trick and end up with four wickets and then you think “you know what, I might go to their match on Friday now and see if this winning form continues”.

You’re more invested, and, I know this is extremely simplified, but it started with that one person.

I saw a social media post the other day and it read: “My wokest opinion is that you shouldn’t call yourself a fan of the club if you don’t take at least a passing interest in the women’s team (checking scores every now and then knowing a couple of players etc). Not saying you have to be an ultra but at least an interest”.

So how is this connected? Well, the Women’s Ashes is underway A series of three ODIs, three T20s and one Test match.

The Aussies enjoyed an easy win in the first ODI on Sunday.

My opinion is that if you’re a cricket fan, and if you watched the Border-Gavaskar trophy intently over summer, you should have some interest in this. That interest can be fleeting or lasting, but it needs to be there to a point.

A fleeting interest could mean you see the women’s score, think “oh great, we won against the Poms” and that could be the end of it.

But, that score check could take you deeper, and mean you then look a bit further and see the scorecard. You think, “jeez this Annabelle Sutherland knocks the ball around, might just tune in and see her innings”.

You’re then exposed to potentially seeing the bowling of Alana King or Megan Schutt and then suddenly, you’re interested in the entire series. It all started with just looking at the score.

You’re never interested in things you’ve already decided you don’t want to know about and people you don’t know anything about.

I am a sports host who has worked in sports I initially had limited knowledge of, from curling at the Winter Olympics, to tennis tournaments, to hilariously working on the European Cricket League.

But the more I knew and watched, the more I wanted to watch.

I began to get excited over the upsets in the curling competition. I watched on with interest when a player first made it in to the top 100 in tennis, realising their career was about to explode and I learnt and loved all the stories from the European Cricket League which turned the whole thing from a bit of a joke into a wholesome experience.

It all just required a tiny bit of effort, and the choice to open my eyes to what was in front of me.

From little interests, whatever and however that is sparked, you can then grow a deep interest and potentially a passion.

So just like Steve Smith, a generational talent in the men’s game who can spark interest in the Big Bash, maybe just a little bit of interest in the women’s game can snowball in to something you didn’t know you liked. Plus, beating the Poms is never not fun.