In a glass case on the third floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground is housed a electric pink outfit performed in by Robbie Williams. The show in front of a massive crowd of fans was seen as a triumph.
Perhaps you don't appreciate the performer. Maybe you feel he is the finest offering to music known to man. You might take a middle ground, acknowledging that some tracks are fantastic while others are terrible.
The key argument is that entertainment can be delivered diversely. You like what you like. There is not a single method to create art or even Test cricket.
The Incomparable Variety of The Long Game
The five-day game boasts peerless complexity. It is hard to think of another sport where the outcome is so reliant upon conditions.
The elements, the session, the red ball – the variables are numerous. Crucially is the wicket.
If the format is a form of art, the pitch is the canvas on which the cricketers create their art.
A Test of Cubism: The Melbourne Spectacle
The Boxing Day fixture between Australia and England was an abstract version of cricket, the great game broken apart and reassembled in an unusual manner.
Let's be clear, this isn't a endorsement of the surface which resulted in a victory and the another sub-three-day finish of the series.
Allowing excessive grass on the pitch, resulting in 36 wickets tumbling in less than six sessions, is not an even battle between bat and ball.
A Rich Tapestry: The Core of Test Cricket
But any suggestion this was a inferior show, one that should be footnoted as not a proper Test, is incorrect.
The format is a rich tapestry, over two thousand matches and ongoing. At times, as witnessed recently, the cricket ball does all sorts for the fast men. In contrast, it spins sharply on a spinning track. At other venues, the pitch is flat as a pancake, other times it spits like a cobra.
The thrillers are particularly captivating due to the time made elsewhere.
Problem Solving: The Core Skill
Specific conditions are embraced more freely than others.
The argument in at the MCG was that the contest was skewed excessively towards the fielding side. That the best players were unable from showcasing their talents.
This level of cricket is about adapting to challenges – assessing the conditions and adjusting appropriately. The top two individual contributions were made by acknowledged players. One side committed more errors than the other, and thus ended up second best.
Pure Elation: The Fan Perspective
Try telling the fans who have suffered a long drought that this was not entertaining.
Among the crowd of the MCG, thousands celebrated and created an atmosphere, fostering a carnival vibe in a stronghold of Australian cricket.
There was optimism as the fielding side dominated, momentum when the top order fought back, and unconditional love when the win was confirmed.
Polar Opposites: The Range of Test Matches
The Melbourne has a history with controversial surfaces. Eight years ago, a game there featured a wicket with all the life of a pulled Christmas cracker.
That contest was a slog, with few wickets and endless boredom. The two-day game and that slow Test are extreme ends of the spectrum – both are not the standard, yet value can be found in both.
At this stage into the current series, it is the shortest games that will remain iconic in the history books.
"It's not the demise of the long game at all," observed a veteran. "The people who have been privileged to see these two days have been experienced some genuine drama. An unusual spectacle."
Small Victories: Building for the Future
In the preparation to this Test, the skipper addressed the media like a man carrying the heavy burden on his shoulders.
The team delivered for him, reinstating the joy to his countenance.
Different players stepped up with key contributions. These are small positives, certainly not enough to ensure long-term success, but a starting point to build on.
Ultimately, this Melbourne victory is added to other historic performances in dead rubbers.
As the supporters departed into a glorious Melbourne evening, the team congregated on the outfield to begin their own enjoyment.
Celebrate the win, men. It's well deserved.
