Displayed inside a display cabinet on the elevated floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground sits a electric pink suit donned by Robbie Williams. His performance in front of 100,024 attendees was considered a major hit.
It's possible you appreciate the performer. Perhaps you believe he is the greatest gift to music known to man. Alternatively, you may hold a reasonable stance, admitting that some hits are excellent while others are awful.
The central idea is that amusement can be delivered diversely. Tastes vary. There is no universal formula to create art or even five-day cricket.
The Incomparable Variety of Test Cricket
The five-day game boasts peerless complexity. It is hard to think of another sport where the playing is so dictated by the environment.
The climate, the time of day, the red ball – the list is endless. Most important is the pitch.
If the long game is an artistic pursuit, the wicket is the blank slate on which the players create their art.
An Abstract Contest: The MCG Match
The Boxing Day fixture between the old rivals was an abstract version of cricket, the established format taken to pieces and reconstructed in an unusual manner.
This is not a defence of the wicket which produced a triumph and the another short match of the contest.
Allowing a thick layer on the pitch, resulting in a cascade of wickets being taken in less than a brief period, is not an even battle between bat and ball.
A Rich Tapestry: The Core of Test Cricket
But any notion this was a diminished spectacle, one that should be footnoted as not a proper Test, is incorrect.
Test cricket is a rich tapestry, 2,615 parts and counting. On occasion, as witnessed recently, the cricket ball moves excessively for the fast men. Sometimes, it spins sharply on a dust bowl. At other venues, the pitch is unresponsive, other times it spits like a cobra.
The exciting finishes are particularly captivating owing to the time committed in other matches.
Adaptation: The Real Challenge
Certain variables are tolerated more easily than others.
The argument in during the match was that the contest was skewed excessively towards the fielding side. That the skilled individuals were unable from playing their natural game.
The format is about adapting to challenges – interpreting the conditions and adjusting accordingly. The best individual innings were made by world-class stars. One line-up committed more errors than the other, and thus were defeated.
Unbridled Joy: The Fan Perspective
Try telling the supporters who have endured 18 winless matches that this was not entertaining.
In one section of the ground, thousands made noise and chanted, fostering a party atmosphere in a stronghold of Australian cricket.
There was optimism as the attack surged, advantage when players scored quickly, and pure joy when the win was secured.
Contrasting Examples: The Variety of Test Matches
The MCG has a history with pitch problems. Eight years ago, a Test there featured a strip with the excitement of a a damp squib.
That contest was a grind, with few wickets and slow play. The two-day game and that drawn affair are extreme ends of the range – both are not ideal, yet significance can be attached to both.
Four Tests into the current series, it is the two-day matches that will live longest in the collective consciousness.
"Far from being the demise of the long game at all," said a past champion. "Fans who have been fortunate to see these 48 hours have been treated to some fantastic sport. An unusual spectacle."
Signs of Progress: Looking Ahead
In the lead-in to this Test, the skipper spoke like a man carrying the heavy burden on his shoulders.
The players protected him, restoring the positive demeanor to his persona.
New faces delivered with vital performances. These are incremental gains, certainly not enough to guarantee long-term stability, but a starting point to build on.
Ultimately, this Melbourne victory is added to other memorable performances in dead rubbers.
As the supporters left into a beautiful night, the players congregated on the turf to begin their own enjoyment.
Savour the moment, lads. It's well deserved.
