In a showcase on the upper level of the Melbourne Cricket Ground sits a neon pink suit worn by Robbie Williams. His show in front of a massive crowd of attendees was seen as a success.
Perhaps you don't enjoy his music. Maybe you feel he is the greatest gift to music in history. Alternatively, you may hold a reasonable stance, admitting that some hits are excellent while others are poor.
The key argument is that amusement can be delivered diversely. Tastes vary. There is not a single method to produce art or even the longest format.
The Peerless Spectrum of The Long Game
Test cricket boasts incomparable variety. It is hard to think of another sport where the contest is so reliant upon the environment.
The climate, the session, the cricket ball – the variables are numerous. Above all is the wicket.
If Test cricket is an artistic pursuit, the pitch is the canvas on which the cricketers create their art.
A Broken-Down Battle: The MCG Match
The Boxing Day fixture between Australia and England was an abstract version of cricket, the traditional sport dismantled and reassembled in a bizarre shape.
It must be stated this is not a endorsement of the surface which produced a win and the another short match of the series.
Allowing excessive grass on the surface, resulting in 36 wickets falling in less than two days, is not an even battle between batter and bowler.
A Varied History: The Nature of Test Cricket
But any suggestion this was a diminished spectacle, one that should be footnoted as inauthentic, is wide of the mark.
Test cricket is a varied portfolio, 2,615 parts and ongoing. On occasion, as witnessed recently, the ball moves excessively for the pace bowlers. In contrast, it spins sharply on a dry surface. Sometimes, the pitch is dead, other times it explodes.
The close matches are even more exciting owing to the time devoted during quieter periods.
Adjustment: The True Test
Specific conditions are accepted more freely than others.
The argument in during the match was that the equilibrium was weighted unfairly towards the attack. That the skilled individuals were unable from playing their natural game.
This level of cricket is about finding solutions – reading the conditions and adjusting accordingly. The best individual scores were made by recognized players. One team was less disciplined than the other, and thus lost.
Pure Elation: For Those Who Waited
Attempt to convince the devotees who have endured years of defeat that this lacked spectacle.
In one section of the ground, countless fans waved their flags and created an atmosphere, producing a party atmosphere in a stronghold of sport.
There was belief as the attack surged, impetus when the top order responded, and rapturous celebration when the result was confirmed.
Polar Opposites: The Variety of Test Matches
The venue has a history with difficult wickets. In the past, a Test there featured a wicket with all the life of a a damp squib.
That match was a slog, with minimal action and interminable tedium. The two-day game and that previous match are polar opposites of the scale – one is not more ideal, yet significance can be attached to both.
Four Tests into the Ashes contest, it is the quick finishes that will be most remembered in the memory.
"Far from being the demise of the format at all," observed a past champion. "The people who have been privileged to see these short time have been experienced some real entertainment. An unusual spectacle."
Small Victories: Looking Ahead
In the build-up to this match, the leader spoke like a man carrying the heavy burden on his back.
The team responded for him, restoring the positive demeanor to his face.
Emerging talents performed with vital performances. These are incremental gains, not nearly enough to secure long-term stability, but something to use as a platform.
In the end, this MCG win is added to other historic performances in dead rubbers.
As the supporters departed into a beautiful night, the team gathered on the outfield to start their own festivities.
Enjoy the drink, boys. You've earned this one.
