Within a showcase on the elevated floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground rests a electric pink suit performed in by Robbie Williams. His show in front of 100,024 fans was hailed as a triumph.
You might not enjoy the performer. Perhaps you believe he is the ultimate present to music in history. Alternatively, you may hold a balanced view, conceding that some hits are belting while others are awful.
The key argument is that entertainment can be delivered diversely. You like what you like. There is not a single method to craft literature or even the longest format.
The Incomparable Variety of Test Cricket
The five-day game boasts incomparable variety. One struggles to think of another sport where the contest is so dictated by conditions.
The elements, the time of day, the ball – the list is endless. Crucially is the playing surface.
If the long game is a form of art, the strip is the foundation on which the cricketers paint their masterpiece.
An Abstract Contest: The Melbourne Spectacle
The Boxing Day fixture between Australia and England was the game deconstructed, the traditional sport broken apart and reconstructed in abstract form.
This is not a endorsement of the pitch which yielded a win and the another short match of the series.
Leaving excessive grass on the surface, resulting in 36 wickets being taken in less than six sessions, is not a fair contest between offense and defense.
A Varied History: The Nature of Test Cricket
But any notion this was a lesser event, one that should be qualified as not a proper Test, is wide of the mark.
Test cricket is a varied portfolio, 2,615 parts and counting. On occasion, as witnessed recently, the ball does all sorts for the seamers. In contrast, it turns square on a dry surface. At other venues, the pitch is flat as a pancake, other times it explodes.
The thrillers are all the more thrilling owing to the time committed during quieter periods.
Adjustment: The Core Skill
Specific conditions are embraced more easily than others.
The argument in Melbourne was that the contest was skewed excessively towards the attack. That the top batters were hindered from showcasing their talents.
The format is about problem solving – reading the situation and adapting appropriately. The best individual innings were made by world-class batters. One team committed more errors than the other, and thus were defeated.
Pure Elation: The Supporters' View
Go and inform the devotees who have endured years of defeat that this lacked spectacle.
In one section of the ground, thousands waved their flags and sang their songs, producing a party atmosphere in a bastion of Australian cricket.
There was hope as the attack excelled, advantage when the top order scored quickly, and pure joy when the result was confirmed.
Polar Opposites: The Range of Test Matches
The MCG has form with pitch problems. In the past, a game there featured a pitch with all the life of a pulled Christmas cracker.
That fixture was a marathon, with few wickets and interminable tedium. The two-day game and that drawn affair are extreme ends of the range – one is not more the standard, yet significance can be ascribed to each.
Four Tests into the ongoing battle, it is the two-day matches that will be most remembered in the collective consciousness.
"This isn't the end of Test cricket at all," commented a veteran. "Fans who have been fortunate to see these 48 hours have been experienced some genuine drama. A unique show."
Baby Steps: Looking Ahead
In the build-up to this Test, the leader spoke like a man carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.
The players protected him, bringing back the joy to his persona.
New faces stepped up with key contributions. These are small positives, hardly enough to secure long-term stability, but something to use as a platform.
In the end, this Melbourne victory joins other memorable performances in meaningless games.
As the supporters left into a stunning sunset, the team congregated on the turf to begin their own festivities.
Savour the moment, men. It's well deserved.
