Displayed inside a glass case on the third floor of the MCG rests a neon pink outfit donned by the entertainer. The performance in front of a hundred thousand fans was hailed as a triumph.
It's possible you enjoy Robbie Williams. Maybe you feel he is the finest offering to music the world has ever seen. You might take a middle ground, conceding that some tracks are fantastic while others are poor.
The point being is that entertainment can be delivered diversely. You like what you like. There is no one way to craft art or even the longest format.
The Peerless Spectrum of The Test Format
Test cricket boasts incomparable variety. One struggles to think of another sport where the contest is so dependent on external factors.
The elements, the hour of play, the ball – the list is endless. Above all is the pitch.
If the long game is an artistic pursuit, the strip is the blank slate on which the athletes create their art.
A Test of Cubism: The Fourth Test
The fourth Ashes Test between the old rivals was the game deconstructed, the traditional sport dismantled and reassembled in abstract form.
This is not a justification of the surface which yielded a win and the another short match of the series.
Allowing excessive grass on the pitch, leading to a cascade of wickets falling in less than two days, is not an even battle between bat and ball.
A Varied History: The Essence of Test Cricket
But any notion this was a diminished spectacle, one that should be footnoted as not a proper Test, is incorrect.
The format is a varied portfolio, 2,615 parts and counting. Sometimes, as witnessed recently, the ball does all sorts for the fast men. Sometimes, it spins sharply on a dust bowl. Sometimes, the pitch is unresponsive, other times it bounces unevenly.
The close matches are all the more thrilling because of the time committed in other matches.
Adjustment: The Real Challenge
Specific conditions are embraced more easily than others.
The argument in Melbourne was that the equilibrium was tipped too far towards the attack. That the skilled individuals were prevented from demonstrating their skill.
Test cricket is about problem solving – reading the wicket and adjusting effectively. The best individual innings were made by world-class stars. One side committed more errors than the other, and thus were defeated.
Sheer Celebration: The Fan Perspective
Go and inform the supporters who have experienced 18 winless matches that this lacked spectacle.
In one section of the MCG, thousands celebrated and created an atmosphere, producing a festive mood in a heartland of Australian cricket.
There was optimism as the attack dominated, advantage when the top order fought back, and unconditional love when the win was confirmed.
Extreme Ends: The Range of Test Matches
The venue has form with difficult wickets. Previously, a game there featured a wicket with the excitement of a pulled Christmas cracker.
That contest was a slog, with minimal action and slow play. This recent match and that drawn affair are polar opposites of the spectrum – one is not more perfect, yet value can be attached to both.
Four Tests into the ongoing battle, it is the two-day matches that will live longest in the collective consciousness.
"Far from being the demise of the long game at all," said a past champion. "The people who have been fortunate to see these 48 hours have been given some fantastic sport. An unusual spectacle."
Small Victories: Looking Ahead
In the preparation to this match, the leader talked like a man carrying the enormous pressure on his back.
The team delivered for him, restoring the positive demeanor to his countenance.
New faces stepped up with crucial roles. These are baby steps, not nearly enough to ensure long-term success, but something to build on.
In the end, this Melbourne victory joins other memorable performances in meaningless games.
As the crowd left into a glorious Melbourne evening, the squad congregated on the outfield to begin their own celebrations.
Savour the moment, boys. This victory was hard-fought.
