Within a showcase on the third floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground rests a electric pink suit worn by Robbie Williams. His performance in front of a massive crowd of fans was considered a major hit.
You might not enjoy Robbie Williams. Maybe you feel he is the finest offering to music in history. Alternatively, you may hold a reasonable stance, admitting that some songs are fantastic while others are awful.
The key argument is that entertainment can manifest in countless ways. Preferences differ. There is no one way to craft music or even five-day cricket.
The Unrivalled Depth of Test Cricket
The traditional format boasts incomparable variety. It's difficult to think of another sport where the playing is so reliant upon the environment.
The elements, the session, the red ball – the variables are numerous. Most important is the playing surface.
If the long game is a form of art, the strip is the blank slate on which the athletes create their art.
A Test of Cubism: The MCG Match
The Boxing Day fixture between Australia and England was the game deconstructed, the great game broken apart and reconstructed in an unusual manner.
It must be stated this is not a justification of the pitch which resulted in a victory and the another sub-three-day finish of the series.
Leaving excessive grass on the surface, resulting in a cascade of wickets falling in less than two days, is not a fair contest between batter and bowler.
A Diverse Legacy: The Core of Test Cricket
But any notion this was a diminished spectacle, one that should be qualified as inauthentic, is wide of the mark.
The format is a diverse canvas, over two thousand matches and counting. On occasion, as seen at the MCG, the cricket ball behaves unpredictably for the pace bowlers. Sometimes, it spins sharply on a dry surface. At other venues, the pitch is dead, other times it bounces unevenly.
The close matches are all the more thrilling owing to the investment devoted in other matches.
Problem Solving: The True Test
Some factors are tolerated more easily than others.
The debate in during the match was that the balance was weighted unfairly towards the attack. That the best players were unable from demonstrating their skill.
Test cricket is about problem solving – interpreting the wicket and adapting effectively. The top two individual contributions were made by acknowledged stars. One line-up was less disciplined than the other, and thus ended up second best.
Sheer Celebration: The Fan Perspective
Go and inform the fans who have endured a long drought that this wasn't compelling.
In a corner of the MCG, a sea of people made noise and created an atmosphere, fostering a festive mood in a bastion of sport.
There was belief as the attack excelled, impetus when the top order responded, and unconditional love when the victory was achieved.
Extreme Ends: The Variety of Test Matches
The MCG has previous experience with difficult wickets. In the past, a match there featured a pitch with the excitement of a a non-event.
That match was a grind, with minimal action and interminable tedium. This recent match and that slow Test are polar opposites of the scale – both are not ideal, yet historical weight can be ascribed to each.
Four Tests into the current series, it is the two-day matches that will remain iconic in the collective consciousness.
"This isn't the end of the long game at all," commented a former player. "The people who have been privileged to see these 48 hours have been experienced some real entertainment. Different entertainment."
Signs of Progress: Building for the Future
In the preparation to this Test, the skipper spoke like a man carrying the heavy burden on his back.
The squad delivered for him, restoring the positive demeanor to his face.
Different players stepped up with crucial roles. These are baby steps, not nearly enough to guarantee long-term futures, but something to use as a platform.
Ultimately, this triumph is added to other memorable performances in similar circumstances.
As the fans departed into a glorious Melbourne evening, the players gathered on the turf to commence their own celebrations.
Celebrate the win, men. It's well deserved.
