Within a glass case on the upper level of the iconic Melbourne stadium sits a neon pink outfit performed in by the pop star. The concert in front of a massive crowd of attendees was seen as a triumph.
You might not enjoy Robbie Williams. You might think he is the finest offering to music in history. Alternatively, you may hold a reasonable stance, acknowledging that some songs are excellent while others are poor.
The key argument is that amusement can take many forms. You like what you like. There is no one way to produce art or even five-day cricket.
The Incomparable Variety of The Test Format
The traditional format boasts incomparable variety. It's difficult to think of another sport where the contest is so dictated by external factors.
The weather, the time of day, the cricket ball – the list is endless. Above all is the playing surface.
If the format is art, the pitch is the canvas on which the athletes craft their legacy.
A Test of Cubism: The MCG Match
The recent Melbourne match between Australia and England was Test cricket cubism, the traditional sport dismantled and reconstructed in abstract form.
Let's be clear, this isn't a defence of the wicket which produced a triumph and the another sub-three-day finish of the series.
Allowing 10mm of grass on the pitch, causing 36 wickets being taken in less than two days, is not a fair contest between batter and bowler.
A Varied History: The Essence of Test Cricket
But any suggestion this was a diminished spectacle, one that should be footnoted as illegitimate, is mistaken.
The long game is a diverse canvas, over two thousand matches and counting. Sometimes, as seen at the MCG, the ball moves excessively for the fast men. Sometimes, it grips and turns on a dry surface. Sometimes, the pitch is unresponsive, other times it spits like a cobra.
The close matches are even more exciting due to the investment committed elsewhere.
Problem Solving: The Real Challenge
Specific conditions are accepted more freely than others.
The debate in during the match was that the equilibrium was skewed excessively towards the bowlers. That the best players were unable from demonstrating their skill.
The format is about adapting to challenges – assessing the wicket and adapting appropriately. The best individual scores were made by acknowledged players. One team made more mistakes than the other, and thus ended up second best.
Pure Elation: For Those Who Waited
Attempt to convince the devotees who have endured 18 winless matches that this was not entertaining.
Among the crowd of the stadium, countless fans waved their flags and chanted, fostering a festive mood in a heartland of Australian cricket.
There was hope as the bowlers surged, momentum when the top order responded, and rapturous celebration when the result was confirmed.
Extreme Ends: The Spectrum of Test Matches
The MCG has a history with controversial surfaces. Eight years ago, a Test there featured a strip with the excitement of a a non-event.
That match was a grind, with few wickets and endless boredom. The latest encounter and that drawn affair are polar opposites of the scale – neither ideal, yet significance can be attached to both.
Deep into the series into the Ashes contest, it is the two-day matches that will remain iconic in the collective consciousness.
"This isn't the death of the format at all," said a veteran. "The people who have been lucky enough to see these short time have been given some fantastic sport. A unique show."
Signs of Progress: Building for the Future
In the build-up to this match, the leader spoke like a man carrying the weight of the world on his back.
The squad responded for him, restoring the smile to his countenance.
New faces delivered with crucial roles. These are small positives, hardly enough to ensure long-term futures, but a starting point to build on.
Ultimately, this Melbourne victory takes its place among other notable performances in dead rubbers.
As the crowd left into a beautiful night, the players assembled on the turf to commence their own festivities.
Enjoy the drink, boys. It's well deserved.
