Displayed inside a showcase on the third floor of the iconic Melbourne stadium sits a electric pink suit performed in by the entertainer. His performance in front of 100,024 spectators 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 balanced view, conceding that some tracks are excellent while others are poor.
The central idea is that enjoyment can be delivered diversely. Tastes vary. There is no universal formula to create literature or even five-day cricket.
The Peerless Spectrum of The Test Format
Test cricket boasts peerless complexity. It is hard to think of another sport where the outcome is so dictated by the environment.
The climate, the session, the cricket ball – the variables are numerous. Crucially is the pitch.
If the format is art, the pitch is the blank slate on which the athletes craft their legacy.
A Broken-Down Battle: The MCG Match
The fourth Ashes Test between the old rivals was an abstract version of cricket, the great game dismantled and reconstructed in an unusual manner.
Let's be clear, this isn't a defence of the surface which yielded a win and the another short match of the contest.
Leaving excessive grass on the surface, leading to numerous dismissals tumbling in less than six sessions, is not an even battle between bat and ball.
A Rich Tapestry: The Core of Test Cricket
But any notion this was a inferior show, one that should be footnoted as not a proper Test, is wide of the mark.
Test cricket is a diverse canvas, 2,615 parts and ongoing. Sometimes, as seen at the MCG, the ball does all sorts for the fast men. Sometimes, it spins sharply on a dry surface. At other venues, the pitch is dead, other times it spits like a cobra.
The exciting finishes are all the more thrilling owing to the time devoted elsewhere.
Adaptation: The Core Skill
Certain variables are tolerated more readily than others.
The argument in during the match was that the balance was tipped too far towards the attack. That the top batters were hindered from demonstrating their skill.
The format is about adapting to challenges – reading the conditions and adapting appropriately. The best individual scores were made by recognized players. One side was less disciplined than the other, and thus were defeated.
Sheer Celebration: The Supporters' View
Try telling the devotees who have experienced years of defeat that this lacked spectacle.
In one section of the ground, a sea of people made noise and sang their songs, producing a party atmosphere in a stronghold of Australian cricket.
There was belief as the attack surged, impetus when players fought back, and unconditional love when the result was secured.
Extreme Ends: The Variety of Test Matches
The venue has form with pitch problems. In the past, a game there featured a strip with all the life of a a damp squib.
That contest was a grind, with minimal action and interminable tedium. The latest encounter and that previous match are polar opposites of the scale – neither the standard, yet significance can be attached to both.
Deep into the series into the current series, it is the two-day matches that will live longest in the collective consciousness.
"It's not the demise of Test cricket at all," observed a past champion. "Spectators who have been privileged to see these two days have been treated to some fantastic sport. A unique show."
Baby Steps: Building for the Future
In the lead-in to this Test, the captain spoke like a man carrying the enormous pressure on his mind.
The team responded for him, restoring the positive demeanor to his countenance.
Emerging talents delivered with crucial roles. These are baby steps, not nearly enough to guarantee long-term futures, but something to use as a platform.
Ultimately, this Melbourne victory takes its place among other memorable performances in meaningless games.
As the fans departed into a stunning sunset, the squad congregated on the field to begin their own celebrations.
Enjoy the drink, men. This victory was hard-fought.
