JUSTIN LANGER: The fans and Cricket Australia counting the cost of Travis Head Ashes batting onslaught

Triumph or disaster?

That depends on who you ask.

If you were at Optus Stadium for the first two days or one of the 5.8 million viewers watching the Test match on Channel 7 or 7plus, then you couldn’t help but to be captivated by the action.

The same would be said for the millions watching the first Ashes test around the globe.

Supreme athlete Mitchell Starc was brilliant. His first spell on Friday morning was a masterclass in fast bowling. Under immense pressure many would buckle, instead, he stood up like he has on so many occasions, delivering one of the best opening spells an Ashes series has ever witnessed.

Most impressive was his control and ability to ask questions of the English batsmen. Ten wickets and a spectacular caught and bowled highlighted his man of the match performance. As notable was his leadership in standing up as the senior bowler in the absence of Pat Cummins and Josh Hazelwood.

Great players do that; they stand up when their team and country need it the most.

Where Starc set the foundation, Travis Head played one of the greatest Test innings of all time.

Head, the laid back, thrashing machine, Australia’s permanent white ball opener, and intermittent sub-continent choice, was extraordinary. After accepting the captain’s challenge to open the batting, he surpassed anything anyone could have dreamed of.

In the absence of Usman Khawaja, who was out of action with a debilitating back condition, the aggressive left-hander started watchfully, before attacking England’s much discussed fast bowling unit.

The same combination of Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse and Ben Stokes that decimated Australia in its first innings, was made to look pedestrian and shell shocked.

Two-day Tests are three days of missed opportunities for those kids to fall in love with the game.

One shot particularly, a pull shot off Archer that sailed towards the sight screen and over the rope, was arguably the best single cricket stroke I have ever seen. Such skill takes fierceness, strength, enormous courage, and an eye like a hawk; all traits that make Head’s innings so sublime that it will go down in the annals of time.

When he left the ground with a handful of runs left for victory, it wasn’t just England that were left shocked and in awe, it was everyone who had just witnessed such greatness. Where every Australian celebrated, every English supporter mourned.

And it is in that celebration and mourning that I get back to the initial question, disaster or triumph?

For the England cricket team this is a disaster. Having been in front for a lot of the game, their lack of respect for the conditions, their opponent and the game of five-day cricket has cost them in this instance. Missed opportunities tend to keep you awake at night.

In the bigger picture, it is not only England that bears the cost of a two-day Test match.

What about the kid who misses the opportunity to watch their first day of Test cricket at Optus Stadium. In the last 24 hours I have heard three stories of heart broken kids, robbed of the dream of seeing their heroes live.

The health of the game is inherently linked with kids falling in the love in it. Without that, the game is unsustainable. Two-day Tests are three days of missed opportunities for those kids to fall in love with the game.

Then there’s the visitors from England who have saved their hard-earned money to travel to Perth to live their dream of watching Ashes cricket.

Friends of mine are in that category. We have have been talking about day three of the Perth Test for six months. They are shattered.

The 2000 casual staff who miss out on working a shift on Sunday. Let’s not forget them. They may not be mourning, but most will be disappointed and missing out on their much-needed wages.

Their employers at Optus Stadium bear the brunt as much as anyone. They, Cricket Australia and the broadcasters lose millions of dollars.

Day three, a Sunday, will cost CA and the stadium around $10 million in ticket and food and beverage sales. That’s a lot of money that goes back into grass roots cricket and towards selling the game to the kids we are striving to attract and retain.

The hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of wasted food prepared to service the 50,000 patrons is a travesty. Hopefully that can find a home.

Often when there is so much expectation, an outcome can be one of either triumph or disaster. In this case, the expectation of the first test started at fever pitch, was played at fever pitch and has now ended far sooner than anyone would have liked.

Triumph or disaster.