In a showcase on the third floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground sits a neon pink suit donned by Robbie Williams. The concert in front of a massive crowd of attendees was seen as a major hit.
You might not like Robbie Williams. Perhaps you believe he is the finest offering to music in history. You might take a middle ground, conceding that some songs are fantastic while others are terrible.
The key argument is that entertainment can take many forms. Preferences differ. There is no one way to create literature or even Test cricket.
The Unrivalled Depth of The Long Game
Test cricket boasts incomparable variety. It's difficult to think of another sport where the contest is so dictated by external factors.
The elements, the hour of play, the ball – the factors are countless. Crucially is the pitch.
If the format is art, the wicket is the blank slate on which the cricketers create their art.
A Test of Cubism: The Melbourne Spectacle
The recent Melbourne match between Australia and England was Test cricket cubism, the great game broken apart and stuck back together in a bizarre shape.
Let's be clear, this isn't a defence of the surface which yielded a triumph and the another sub-three-day finish of the contest.
Leaving 10mm of grass on the wicket, leading to 36 wickets falling in less than two days, is not an even battle between bat and ball.
A Rich Tapestry: The Core of Test Cricket
But any suggestion this was a diminished spectacle, one that should be footnoted as illegitimate, is incorrect.
The long game is a diverse canvas, a long history and ongoing. At times, as seen at the MCG, the cricket ball behaves unpredictably for the pace bowlers. Other times, it spins sharply on a dry surface. At other venues, the pitch is dead, other times it explodes.
The close matches are even more exciting owing to the investment devoted elsewhere.
Adjustment: The True Test
Certain variables are embraced more easily than others.
The argument in during the match was that the equilibrium was tipped too far towards the attack. That the best players were prevented from playing their natural game.
Test cricket is about finding solutions – reading the conditions and adjusting appropriately. The top two individual scores were made by world-class players. One line-up committed more errors than the other, and thus were defeated.
Pure Elation: For Those Who Waited
Try telling the supporters who have experienced years of defeat that this was not entertaining.
Among the crowd of the stadium, a sea of people made noise and chanted, producing a festive mood in a heartland of Australian cricket.
There was hope as the attack surged, impetus when players responded, and unconditional love when the win was achieved.
Contrasting Examples: The Range of Test Matches
The MCG has form with pitch problems. Previously, a match there featured a wicket with the character of a pulled Christmas cracker.
That match was a marathon, with minimal action and interminable tedium. The two-day game and that previous match are extreme ends of the spectrum – one is not more perfect, yet significance can be attached to each.
Deep into the series into the Ashes contest, it is the shortest games that will live longest in the memory.
"Far from being the demise of the long game at all," commented a veteran. "Fans who have been privileged to see these two days have been experienced some genuine drama. An unusual spectacle."
Baby Steps: Looking Ahead
In the lead-in to this Test, the leader spoke like a man carrying the weight of the world on his mind.
The team protected him, reinstating the positive demeanor to his face.
Emerging talents stepped up with vital performances. These are baby steps, hardly enough to secure long-term futures, but something to develop from.
In the end, this MCG win takes its place among other memorable performances in meaningless games.
As the fans left into a stunning sunset, the team gathered on the field to commence their own celebrations.
Savour the moment, lads. This victory was hard-fought.
