Within a glass case on the third floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground is housed a electric pink ensemble donned by Robbie Williams. His show in front of 100,024 fans was considered a major hit.
It's possible you like Robbie Williams. Maybe you feel he is the ultimate present to music the world has ever seen. Or you could adopt a middle ground, admitting that some hits are belting while others are awful.
The point being is that enjoyment can be delivered diversely. Preferences differ. There is no one way to produce literature or even Test cricket.
The Incomparable Variety of Test Cricket
The five-day game boasts peerless complexity. It is hard to think of another sport where the contest is so reliant upon external factors.
The elements, the session, the red ball – the factors are countless. Most important is the pitch.
If the format is art, the wicket is the canvas on which the athletes create their art.
An Abstract Contest: The MCG Match
The recent Melbourne match between the two sides was Test cricket cubism, the established format dismantled and reassembled in abstract form.
It must be stated this is not a defence of the wicket which produced a win and the second two-day Test of the Ashes battle.
Allowing a thick layer on the pitch, leading to numerous dismissals being taken in less than a brief period, is not a fair contest between bat and ball.
A Diverse Legacy: The Core of Test Cricket
But any notion this was a diminished spectacle, one that should be qualified as illegitimate, is mistaken.
Test cricket is a diverse canvas, 2,615 parts and still growing. Sometimes, as witnessed recently, the cricket ball behaves unpredictably for the seamers. In contrast, it turns square on a dust bowl. At other venues, the pitch is flat as a pancake, other times it bounces unevenly.
The thrillers are all the more thrilling due to the patience devoted during quieter periods.
Adjustment: The True Test
Specific conditions are embraced more readily than others.
The argument in during the match was that the contest was weighted unfairly towards the fielding side. That the skilled individuals were hindered from showcasing their talents.
The format is about finding solutions – assessing the wicket and adjusting appropriately. The top two individual contributions were made by world-class players. One team committed more errors than the other, and thus ended up second best.
Sheer Celebration: The Fan Perspective
Attempt to convince the supporters who have suffered a long drought that this wasn't compelling.
Among the crowd of the stadium, a sea of people waved their flags and created an atmosphere, producing a party atmosphere in a stronghold of Australian cricket.
There was hope as the bowlers excelled, momentum when the top order responded, and pure joy when the victory was achieved.
Extreme Ends: The Range of Test Matches
The venue has previous experience with controversial surfaces. Eight years ago, a Test there featured a wicket with the character of a a damp squib.
That fixture was a grind, with limited drama and slow play. The two-day game and that drawn affair are extreme ends of the scale – both are not perfect, yet historical weight can be ascribed to both.
Deep into the series into the current series, it is the two-day matches that will live longest in the collective consciousness.
"It's not the death of the format at all," commented a veteran. "Spectators who have been privileged to see these two days have been experienced some genuine drama. An unusual spectacle."
Signs of Progress: Building for the Future
In the lead-in to this match, the captain addressed the media like a man carrying the heavy burden on his shoulders.
The squad protected him, reinstating the joy to his face.
Different players stepped up with crucial roles. These are incremental gains, not nearly enough to ensure long-term stability, but a starting point to develop from.
In the end, this Melbourne victory takes its place among other historic performances in similar circumstances.
As the fans slipped away into a glorious Melbourne evening, the players assembled on the turf to begin their own festivities.
Celebrate the win, men. It's well deserved.
