In a display cabinet on the third floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground rests a neon pink outfit donned by Robbie Williams. His performance in front of a hundred thousand fans was seen as a major hit.
You might not enjoy the performer. You might think he is the ultimate present to music the world has ever seen. You might take a middle ground, acknowledging that some songs are belting while others are awful.
The point being is that amusement can take many forms. You like what you like. There is no one way to craft music or even Test cricket.
The Peerless Spectrum of The Test Format
The traditional format boasts peerless complexity. One struggles to think of another sport where the playing is so dependent on conditions.
The climate, the session, the red ball – the factors are countless. Crucially is the pitch.
If the long game is art, the wicket is the foundation on which the athletes create their art.
A Test of Cubism: The Melbourne Spectacle
The Boxing Day fixture between the two sides was the game deconstructed, the established format taken to pieces and stuck back together in an unusual manner.
This is not a defence of the wicket which resulted in a victory and the another sub-three-day finish of the series.
Leaving 10mm of grass on the wicket, causing 36 wickets being taken in less than two days, is not a fair contest between bat and ball.
A Rich Tapestry: The Essence of Test Cricket
But any suggestion this was a inferior show, one that should be footnoted as not a proper Test, is mistaken.
Test cricket is a varied portfolio, over two thousand matches and ongoing. Sometimes, like in Melbourne, the cricket ball moves excessively for the seamers. Sometimes, it spins sharply on a spinning track. Sometimes, the pitch is unresponsive, other times it bounces unevenly.
The thrillers are particularly captivating owing to the patience committed during quieter periods.
Problem Solving: The Real Challenge
Specific conditions are embraced more easily than others.
The debate in at the MCG was that the balance was weighted unfairly towards the bowlers. That the top batters were prevented from playing their natural game.
The format is about finding solutions – reading the conditions and adapting accordingly. The top two individual scores were made by recognized batters. One line-up was less disciplined than the other, and thus lost.
Pure Elation: For Those Who Waited
Go and inform the fans who have suffered a long drought that this was not entertaining.
Among the crowd of the MCG, thousands waved their flags and sang their songs, generating a carnival vibe in a stronghold of Australian cricket.
There was optimism as the bowlers dominated, advantage when players fought back, and pure joy when the win was secured.
Extreme Ends: The Variety of Test Matches
The MCG has form with difficult wickets. Eight years ago, a game there featured a wicket with the excitement of a a non-event.
That contest was a grind, with limited drama and slow play. The latest encounter and that slow Test are diametrically opposed points of the range – one is not more the standard, yet significance can be found in both.
Four Tests into the current series, it is the two-day matches that will live longest in the memory.
"This isn't the death of the long game at all," said a veteran. "Fans who have been privileged to see these 48 hours have been given some genuine drama. A unique show."
Small Victories: Building for the Future
In the lead-in to this match, the skipper talked like a man carrying the heavy burden on his mind.
The squad responded for him, restoring the joy to his face.
Emerging talents performed with crucial roles. These are incremental gains, not nearly enough to ensure long-term success, but a starting point to develop from.
At the very least, this MCG win joins other memorable performances in dead rubbers.
As the crowd left into a glorious Melbourne evening, the players congregated on the outfield to start their own festivities.
Enjoy the drink, lads. You've earned this one.
