Cricketing great Ian Chappell feels a sportsman "doesn't necessarily" need a crowd to be "spurred on" but he acknowledges the eeriness of empty stands at SCG where Australia thrashed New Zealand in Friday's ODI.
In a game played behind closed doors amid the COVID-19 threat, Australia beat New Zealand by 71 runs before the three-match series was called off.
"I'm one who believes you don't necessarily need a crowd to be spurred on as a sportsman; it's the thrill of a close contest that gets the juices flowing," Chappell wrote in ESPNcricinfo.
"Nevertheless it was a strange silence that accompanied scintillating boundaries and landmark scores at the SCG."
"The upside was the absence of mindless chatter over the PA system; it was good to enjoy a game of cricket where you could hear yourself think."
"Test matches were suspended in early 1914 and didn't resume until late 1920 because of the First World War. The gap in competition was slightly longer during the Second World War, stretching from August 1939 until March 1946."
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