What of Colonial's legacy?

So what to make of the Colonial experience? Success or failure; precedent or pilot study; innovative or merely educative?

In truth, it's probably too early to cast a definitive judgement. But, in the short term at least, it's hard to be anything other than positive about what has occurred here in Melbourne over the course of the past five days. Ironically enough, the Victorian capital's weather has been laced with enough sunshine over the past week to ensure that the threat of weather substantially interrupting proceedings would have been minimal even if this series had remained outdoors. There can be little doubt, though, that cricket has been taken to a new level by virtue of what has occurred here.

To borrow heavily from one famous advertising catchcry, the coming of the Super Challenge 2000 series will not change the face of cricket overnight. But, in time, it is very likely that it will help to make new things happen.

While a headlong rush toward the birth, and utilisation, of more indoor stadiums will hardly be the consequence, the potential utility of enclosed settings has been demonstrated in spades this week. It's no accident that there have already been more than idle murmurings about the development of such a venue in New Zealand, and you can almost guarantee that administrators in other settings will find the idea attractive too.

The immediate prospect that all countries administrators can come close to constructing or accessing such facilities in their own homelands is a remote one, of course. In South Africa, for instance, a higher priority clearly remains the promotion of the game into the country's townships. But there is not a single city in the world that can deliver perfect weather conditions all of the time - that much is obvious. Whether it's the oppressive heat of many centres on the subcontinent; the mix of similarly hot weather, high humidity and unexpected occasional downpours in the Caribbean, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Australia; or the cooler climes of New Zealand and England, the value of such a facility is abundantly clear.

Think not only of the proliferation of one-day internationals themselves over the last three decades. Cast your attention too toward the massive range of technical improvements made in the preparation of pitches and outfields. Contemplate the improvements that have been made in the construction of stands the world over. Devote some consideration to the mass expansion in the use of electronic scoreboards and giant replay screens. In an era in which cricket's battle to continue to attract new devotees (to add to the strong traditional core of supporters it retains) is being compromised by the growth of an increasingly competitive sporting marketplace, these things happen for a compelling reason. For all of its wonderful history, tradition and romanticism, cricket simply will not survive without continuing to embrace change, without continuing to enhance the creature comforts available to spectators, and without doing so in a bold fashion.

"The pitch has been great, the outfield has improved, the facilities are terrific ... it can stand up in the long term. We will do it again; it's just a question of when we can do it and when we can fit it into our schedule. Generally, we're very pleased with it," said Australian Cricket Board Chief Executive Officer, Malcolm Speed, late on the final afternoon.

It's wrong to draw too long a bow, but the sentiments expressed by a significant number of the fans who came to the stadium underline the point too. Among those to whom CricInfo spoke at various stages of the week, it was difficult to find as much as one spectator who was anything less than impressed by the spectacle and the comfort that Colonial afforded them. Difficult it was to find anybody disagreeing with the suggestion that the event should definitely be repeated again in the near future. That old chestnut - that something along these lines should be done to limit the prospect of weather ruining matches - reared its head on a fairly repetitive basis too.

Among the players themselves, strong support was also abundant. South African captain Shaun Pollock experienced some reservations about the quality of the outfield but was otherwise adamant that this series represented a great advertisement for the game.

"It is a great concept ... maybe they could have a game here on the normal tours. In the Carlton and United Series, maybe one of the games should be played here. If not, why not?"

Steve Waugh also seemed to sum up the general feeling in concluding that "it's a great place to play cricket."

"The crowd seemed to enjoy it; the players certainly enjoyed it."

As for the South Africans, they now head to Singapore; four of the Australians return to the gruelling county circuit, and the rest of Australians to various ports for two months before their commitments at home start up again. Rest assured that in boardrooms across the cricketing world, though, the impact of this series will continue to assume a leading position on the agenda and be scrutinised and analysed for some time to come. Exhaustively so, in fact.