Displayed inside a showcase on the third floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground is housed a electric pink suit worn by Robbie Williams. The performance in front of 100,024 attendees was seen as a major hit.
You might not enjoy the performer. Maybe you feel he is the ultimate present to music in history. Alternatively, you may hold a balanced view, admitting that some songs are belting while others are poor.
The key argument is that amusement can take many forms. Preferences differ. There is no universal formula to produce art or even five-day cricket.
The Incomparable Variety of The Test Format
Test cricket boasts peerless complexity. It's difficult to think of another sport where the playing is so reliant upon external factors.
The weather, the hour of play, the ball – the factors are countless. Above all is the wicket.
If the format is an artistic pursuit, the pitch is the canvas on which the cricketers create their art.
An Abstract Contest: The Melbourne Spectacle
The fourth Ashes Test between Australia and England was an abstract version of cricket, the traditional sport taken to pieces and reconstructed in a bizarre shape.
This is not a defence of the wicket which produced a victory and the second two-day Test of the contest.
Leaving 10mm of grass on the pitch, causing 36 wickets tumbling in less than a brief period, is not an even battle between batter and bowler.
A Rich Tapestry: The Essence of Test Cricket
But any notion this was a lesser event, one that should be marked with an asterisk as inauthentic, is mistaken.
Test cricket is a diverse canvas, over two thousand matches and counting. Sometimes, as witnessed recently, the cricket ball moves excessively for the fast men. Other times, it spins sharply on a dry surface. At other venues, the pitch is unresponsive, other times it explodes.
The thrillers are all the more thrilling because of the patience committed in other matches.
Problem Solving: The True Test
Some factors are accepted more easily than others.
The argument in Melbourne was that the balance was tipped too far towards the bowlers. That the skilled individuals were prevented from playing their natural game.
This level of cricket is about problem solving – assessing the situation and adjusting appropriately. The top two individual innings were made by world-class batters. One line-up was less disciplined than the other, and thus lost.
Sheer Celebration: The Fan Perspective
Go and inform the devotees who have endured 18 winless matches that this wasn't compelling.
In one section of the stadium, thousands celebrated and sang their songs, producing a carnival vibe in a heartland of sport.
There was optimism as the bowlers surged, impetus when batters responded, and pure joy when the result was confirmed.
Contrasting Examples: The Variety of Test Matches
The MCG has a history with pitch problems. Previously, a Test there featured a strip with the character of a pulled Christmas cracker.
That match was a grind, with minimal action and endless boredom. The latest encounter and that drawn affair are extreme ends of the range – neither perfect, yet historical weight can be found in both.
Deep into the series into the current series, it is the two-day matches that will remain iconic in the collective consciousness.
"It's not the death of Test cricket at all," observed a former player. "Spectators who have been privileged to see these 48 hours have been experienced some real entertainment. A unique show."
Small Victories: Building for the Future
In the build-up to this match, the skipper addressed the media like a man carrying the weight of the world on his mind.
The players delivered for him, bringing back the joy to his countenance.
Emerging talents stepped up with key contributions. These are small positives, hardly enough to ensure long-term futures, but a starting point to build on.
In the end, this MCG win is added to other memorable performances in meaningless games.
As the supporters slipped away into a glorious Melbourne evening, the squad congregated on the field to start their own festivities.
Celebrate the win, men. This victory was hard-fought.
