Within a showcase on the elevated floor of the MCG rests a neon pink outfit worn by Robbie Williams. His concert in front of a hundred thousand spectators was considered a major hit.
It's possible you appreciate Robbie Williams. Maybe you feel he is the finest offering to music known to man. Or you could adopt a balanced view, admitting that some tracks are fantastic while others are awful.
The point being is that entertainment can be delivered diversely. You like what you like. There is no universal formula to produce music or even five-day cricket.
The Incomparable Variety of The Test Format
The traditional format boasts peerless complexity. It's difficult to think of another sport where the playing is so reliant upon conditions.
The elements, the session, the ball – the variables are numerous. Above all is the wicket.
If the long game is art, the pitch is the blank slate on which the cricketers craft their legacy.
A Test of Cubism: The Melbourne Spectacle
The fourth Ashes Test between the two sides was Test cricket cubism, the great game taken to pieces and reconstructed in a bizarre shape.
Let's be clear, this isn't a endorsement of the wicket which yielded a triumph and the another sub-three-day finish of the Ashes battle.
Allowing a thick layer on the surface, leading to numerous dismissals tumbling in less than two days, is not a balanced duel between offense and defense.
A Varied History: The Nature of Test Cricket
But any idea this was a lesser event, one that should be footnoted as illegitimate, is mistaken.
The format is a rich tapestry, a long history and counting. On occasion, like in Melbourne, the cricket ball moves excessively for the fast men. In contrast, it turns square on a spinning track. At other venues, the pitch is dead, other times it spits like a cobra.
The exciting finishes are particularly captivating because of the investment committed in other matches.
Adjustment: The Real Challenge
Some factors are tolerated more easily than others.
The debate in Melbourne was that the balance was skewed excessively towards the bowlers. That the skilled individuals were hindered from playing their natural game.
Test cricket is about finding solutions – reading the wicket and adjusting accordingly. The best individual contributions were made by world-class stars. One side made more mistakes than the other, and thus were defeated.
Unbridled Joy: The Fan Perspective
Go and inform the devotees who have endured 18 winless matches that this wasn't compelling.
Among the crowd of the MCG, a sea of people celebrated and created an atmosphere, fostering a party atmosphere in a heartland of sport.
There was optimism as the fielding side dominated, advantage when batters scored quickly, and pure joy when the result was secured.
Extreme Ends: The Variety of Test Matches
The MCG has a history with difficult wickets. Previously, a match there featured a pitch with all the life of a pulled Christmas cracker.
That match was a marathon, with minimal action and slow play. The two-day game and that drawn affair are diametrically opposed points of the scale – one is not more perfect, yet value can be ascribed to both.
Deep into the series into the ongoing battle, it is the shortest games that will be most remembered in the collective consciousness.
"This isn't the death of Test cricket at all," commented a past champion. "The people who have been lucky enough to see these two days have been experienced some fantastic sport. A unique show."
Small Victories: Looking Ahead
In the lead-in to this match, the skipper addressed the media like a man carrying the heavy burden on his back.
The team protected him, restoring the joy to his countenance.
Different players stepped up with crucial roles. These are small positives, hardly enough to secure long-term stability, but something to build on.
At the very least, this Melbourne victory joins other notable performances in similar circumstances.
As the crowd departed into a beautiful night, the squad gathered on the turf to start their own enjoyment.
Celebrate the win, boys. You've earned this one.
