Displayed inside a display cabinet on the third floor of the iconic Melbourne stadium sits a vibrant pink outfit performed in by Robbie Williams. His show in front of 100,024 spectators was considered a triumph.
Perhaps you don't appreciate the performer. Maybe you feel he is the greatest gift to music the world has ever seen. Or you could adopt a middle ground, acknowledging that some hits are fantastic while others are terrible.
The central idea is that enjoyment can take many forms. Tastes vary. There is no one way to create literature or even the longest format.
The Unrivalled Depth of Test Cricket
The traditional format boasts incomparable variety. It is hard to think of another sport where the playing is so dependent on external factors.
The elements, the hour of play, the red ball – the list is endless. Most important is the playing surface.
If Test cricket is art, the pitch is the blank slate on which the athletes paint their masterpiece.
A Test of Cubism: The MCG Match
The fourth Ashes Test between the old rivals was the game deconstructed, the traditional sport broken apart and stuck back together in abstract form.
It must be stated this is not a justification of the surface which yielded a triumph and the another short match of the series.
Leaving 10mm of grass on the wicket, leading to numerous dismissals falling in less than two days, is not a balanced duel between batter and bowler.
A Diverse Legacy: The Core of Test Cricket
But any idea this was a diminished spectacle, one that should be footnoted as inauthentic, is incorrect.
Test cricket is a diverse canvas, over two thousand matches and counting. On occasion, as witnessed recently, the cricket ball behaves unpredictably for the fast men. In contrast, it grips and turns on a dust bowl. Sometimes, the pitch is flat as a pancake, other times it explodes.
The close matches are particularly captivating owing to the investment made in other matches.
Adaptation: The True Test
Some factors are accepted more easily than others.
The debate in during the match was that the contest was skewed excessively towards the attack. That the top batters were hindered from showcasing their talents.
This level of cricket is about problem solving – assessing the conditions and responding accordingly. The best individual scores were made by acknowledged batters. One line-up was less disciplined than the other, and thus lost.
Unbridled Joy: For Those Who Waited
Attempt to convince the fans who have experienced 18 winless matches that this was not entertaining.
In one section of the MCG, countless fans celebrated and created an atmosphere, generating a party atmosphere in a heartland of sport.
There was belief as the attack dominated, impetus when batters responded, and rapturous celebration when the win was achieved.
Extreme Ends: The Range of Test Matches
The MCG has a history with difficult wickets. Previously, a Test there featured a pitch with the excitement of a pulled Christmas cracker.
That match was a slog, with minimal action and endless boredom. The two-day game and that drawn affair are polar opposites of the spectrum – neither ideal, yet value can be attached to them.
Deep into the series into the ongoing battle, it is the shortest games that will live longest in the memory.
"It's not the death of the long game at all," said a veteran. "The people who have been privileged to see these two days have been given some genuine drama. An unusual spectacle."
Baby Steps: Building for the Future
In the lead-in to this Test, the captain spoke like a man carrying the heavy burden on his mind.
The squad responded for him, reinstating the smile to his face.
New faces delivered with key contributions. These are incremental gains, hardly enough to secure long-term stability, but something to develop from.
In the end, this triumph is added to other historic performances in dead rubbers.
As the crowd departed into a glorious Melbourne evening, the squad congregated on the outfield to commence their own celebrations.
Savour the moment, lads. You've earned this one.
