In a glass case on the elevated floor of the MCG is housed a vibrant pink outfit performed in by the entertainer. The performance in front of 100,024 fans was considered a success.
Perhaps you don't appreciate Robbie Williams. Perhaps you believe he is the finest offering to music known to man. You might take a middle ground, acknowledging that some songs are fantastic while others are terrible.
The key argument is that entertainment can manifest in countless ways. Preferences differ. There is no one way to create music or even five-day cricket.
The Unrivalled Depth of Test Cricket
The traditional format boasts peerless complexity. One struggles to think of another sport where the contest is so reliant upon external factors.
The climate, the time of day, the red ball – the variables are numerous. Most important is the wicket.
If the long game is art, the wicket is the canvas on which the athletes paint their masterpiece.
A Test of Cubism: The Fourth Test
The recent Melbourne match between Australia and England was an abstract version of cricket, the great game dismantled and reassembled in an unusual manner.
Let's be clear, this isn't a defence of the pitch which yielded a victory and the another short match of the Ashes battle.
Leaving a thick layer on the wicket, resulting in numerous dismissals falling in less than six sessions, is not a fair contest between batter and bowler.
A Varied History: The Nature of Test Cricket
But any suggestion this was a inferior show, one that should be qualified as not a proper Test, is incorrect.
The format is a varied portfolio, a long history and still growing. On occasion, as witnessed recently, the cricket ball behaves unpredictably for the fast men. In contrast, it spins sharply on a spinning track. Sometimes, the pitch is dead, other times it bounces unevenly.
The exciting finishes are particularly captivating because of the time committed in other matches.
Adaptation: The True Test
Certain variables are accepted more readily than others.
The debate in during the match was that the equilibrium was skewed excessively towards the bowlers. That the top batters were unable from demonstrating their skill.
This level of cricket is about finding solutions – assessing the wicket and adjusting effectively. The top two individual scores were made by acknowledged players. One team made more mistakes than the other, and thus ended up second best.
Unbridled Joy: The Fan Perspective
Attempt to convince the fans who have endured 18 winless matches that this lacked spectacle.
In one section of the MCG, countless fans made noise and created an atmosphere, fostering a festive mood in a bastion of national pride.
There was hope as the fielding side surged, impetus when batters fought back, and rapturous celebration when the victory was secured.
Extreme Ends: The Variety of Test Matches
The MCG has a history with pitch problems. In the past, a Test there featured a strip with all the life of a a damp squib.
That match was a marathon, with few wickets and interminable tedium. This recent match and that previous match are polar opposites of the spectrum – neither the standard, yet significance can be found in each.
Deep into the series into the current series, it is the shortest games that will be most remembered in the history books.
"It's not the death of the long game at all," commented a former player. "Fans who have been fortunate to see these two days have been experienced some fantastic sport. An unusual spectacle."
Small Victories: Building for the Future
In the build-up to this match, the skipper spoke like a man carrying the weight of the world on his mind.
The team protected him, reinstating the positive demeanor to his face.
New faces performed with key contributions. These are small positives, certainly not enough to guarantee long-term futures, but a starting point to use as a platform.
In the end, this triumph takes its place among other memorable performances in dead rubbers.
As the fans left into a beautiful night, the squad congregated on the turf to start their own festivities.
Savour the moment, lads. You've earned this one.
