Within a showcase on the elevated floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground sits a vibrant pink suit donned by Robbie Williams. The performance in front of 100,024 fans was hailed as a triumph.
You might not appreciate his music. Perhaps you believe he is the ultimate present to music in history. Alternatively, you may hold a balanced view, conceding that some songs are excellent while others are poor.
The point being is that enjoyment can be delivered diversely. You like what you like. There is not a single method to craft music or even Test cricket.
The Unrivalled Depth of The Test Format
Test cricket boasts incomparable variety. One struggles to think of another sport where the contest is so reliant upon external factors.
The weather, the time of day, the cricket ball – the list is endless. Crucially is the pitch.
If the long game is a form of art, the strip is the canvas on which the athletes craft their legacy.
A Broken-Down Battle: The MCG Match
The Boxing Day fixture between the old rivals was the game deconstructed, the traditional sport broken apart and stuck back together in a bizarre shape.
Let's be clear, this isn't a endorsement of the wicket which produced a victory and the another short match of the series.
Leaving excessive grass on the pitch, resulting in a cascade of wickets being taken in less than six sessions, is not a balanced duel between offense and defense.
A Diverse Legacy: The Core of Test Cricket
But any notion this was a inferior show, one that should be marked with an asterisk as inauthentic, is wide of the mark.
The format is a varied portfolio, over two thousand matches and counting. At times, like in Melbourne, the ball behaves unpredictably for the pace bowlers. Other times, it spins sharply on a dry surface. Sometimes, the pitch is unresponsive, other times it bounces unevenly.
The exciting finishes are all the more thrilling owing to the time made elsewhere.
Problem Solving: The True Test
Some factors are accepted more easily than others.
The argument in at the MCG was that the contest was skewed excessively towards the fielding side. That the best players were prevented from showcasing their talents.
Test cricket is about finding solutions – assessing the conditions and adapting appropriately. The top two individual innings were made by acknowledged batters. One line-up committed more errors than the other, and thus ended up second best.
Pure Elation: For Those Who Waited
Go and inform the supporters who have suffered 18 winless matches that this was not entertaining.
In one section of the stadium, countless fans made noise and created an atmosphere, fostering a carnival vibe in a bastion of Australian cricket.
There was belief as the fielding side surged, impetus when the top order fought back, and unconditional love when the win was secured.
Extreme Ends: The Spectrum of Test Matches
The Melbourne has a history with pitch problems. Eight years ago, a match there featured a strip with the excitement of a a damp squib.
That fixture was a marathon, with few wickets and slow play. This recent match and that slow Test are diametrically opposed points of the scale – both are not ideal, yet significance can be found in them.
At this stage into the Ashes contest, it is the shortest games that will be most remembered in the collective consciousness.
"Far from being the end of the long game at all," said a former player. "Spectators who have been lucky enough to see these two days have been experienced some fantastic sport. Different entertainment."
Baby Steps: Building for the Future
In the preparation to this Test, the skipper talked like a man carrying the enormous pressure on his shoulders.
The team delivered for him, restoring the smile to his countenance.
Emerging talents stepped up with vital performances. These are incremental gains, not nearly enough to ensure long-term futures, but a foundation to develop from.
At the very least, this Melbourne victory takes its place among other memorable performances in dead rubbers.
As the crowd left into a beautiful night, the team congregated on the field to begin their own celebrations.
Celebrate the win, boys. This victory was hard-fought.
