So what was learned at The Oval? That Michael Clarke is better at winning friends than cricket matches. That the Aussies do not think Chris Rogers, demoted to No9, is much of a slogger. And that one never knows what to expect in this game.
The final day of The Oval Test had been sold out since last November. The chief executive of Surrey CCC, Richard Gould, had put the tickets on the market at half the price of the other days and the punters had punted by buying them up. At 11am on Sunday they must have wondered whether it was all worthwhile. The game seemed dead provided England avoided the follow-on, which they duly did.
So there would be a few titbits to chew over as the series fizzled to its whimpering finale. Do England really regard Chris Woakes as a viable No6? It was hard to understand how he was chosen to bat so high in the first innings when Samit Patel was always at No7 and below Matt Prior in the winter.
And in between checking train times one wondered about Prior. Here he shepherded England past the follow-on as he did at Manchester but that was the sum total of his contributions with the bat in the series. He has had a modest time in front of the stumps while most of the catches have gone to Brad Haddin this summer, who would go on to break Rod Marsh's series record. For the moment Prior remains unassailable but what if he broke a finger?
But all that became a debate for another day. To the delight of just about everyone at The Oval the Australians decided not to go quietly. When England were dismissed 115 short of Australia's total Michael Clarke juggled the batting order. Out came Shane Watson instead of Rogers and it was clear that something was up. England would be batting again soon. This was great news for a capacity crowd, all so admiring of Clarke's enterprise. It was also, by the way, jolly good news for Stuart Broad, who would pick up four more Test wickets without the usual amount of sweat required.
Clarke timed his declaration perfectly, well almost. He had to shame England into chasing the runs. That was the only chance of him achieving the miraculous victory he craved. He managed that all right and he had the vast majority of onlookers purring with delight, whether it be the punter from just down the road in Pimlico or the greatest wrist-spinner ever to grace the game, who was patrolling the media centre. Against the odds the game was alive and for that the plaudits kept flowing in Clarke's direction.
But the art of captaincy is not a popularity contest. Nor is the assessment of the great Shane Warne to be taken too literally. He has, as they say, been on Alastair Cook's case throughout the series along the lines of: "I just don't get why Cook is so negative and has been through the whole series."
Or: "Why did @KP24 not come in and at least try for a win. Negative stuff again. Such a shame".
Hence we have the picture of the roundhead Cook, whom Warne constantly needles, and the cavalier Clarke, whom he constantly praises. Clarke is manifestly innovative in the field by the placement of his fielders and by bowling changes which are seldom obvious. And clearly he has the capacity to surprise with his declarations. Clarke is fun to watch, forever searching for a rabbit somewhere deep in his baggy green cap. (Warne is surely a better poker player, though.)
All this may reflect Clarke's restless temperament but also the fact he is captaining a side that in the last six months has always been condemned to chase the game. Behind in the series or in the match and the captain has to try to conjure something from somewhere.
Clive Lloyd, when leading West Indies, did not bother with that clever stuff. He did not need to. He just mumbled something to his bowlers like: "Your turn now, Joel."
Less obviously Cook has not had to contrive anything special in this series. He has bowlers he can trust – well, he had three of them in this game – and no frills have been required. He is a pragmatist, who senses when the odds are in his favour, as he recognised on Sunday night after Clarke's declaration.
Moreover captaincy is not just about what happens on the field. It continues beyond the boundary; in the dressing room, in the team bus, in the bar. This knack of bonding a side together is invisible to almost everyone and therefore more difficult to assess. But Cook, universally respected by his peers, has, one suspects, a significant edge over his Ashes rival Clarke here.
There is one other tedious criterion of captaincy: the results of his team. This summer there has been much purring at the brainwaves of Brendon McCullum of New Zealand and the cuteness of Clarke. As for their opposite number, boring, negative captain Cook: this summer his record in Test matches reads played seven, won five (almost six), drawn two (almost one).
