In a display cabinet on the upper level of the Melbourne Cricket Ground is housed a electric pink suit worn by Robbie Williams. The concert in front of a massive crowd of attendees was hailed as a triumph.
Perhaps you don't enjoy the performer. Maybe you feel he is the greatest gift to music in history. Or you could adopt a middle ground, admitting that some songs are belting while others are awful.
The point being is that entertainment can take many forms. You like what you like. There is not a single method to produce music or even the longest format.
The Unrivalled Depth of The Long Game
Test cricket boasts peerless complexity. One struggles to think of another sport where the playing is so dictated by conditions.
The weather, the time of day, the cricket ball – the list is endless. Most important is the wicket.
If the format is a form of art, the wicket is the foundation on which the players create their art.
An Abstract Contest: The Fourth Test
The recent Melbourne match between the two sides was Test cricket cubism, the traditional sport taken to pieces and reconstructed in an unusual manner.
It must be stated this is not a defence of the wicket which yielded a win and the another sub-three-day finish of the contest.
Allowing a thick layer on the wicket, causing a cascade of wickets being taken in less than two days, is not a fair contest between offense and defense.
A Diverse Legacy: The Essence of Test Cricket
But any notion this was a inferior show, one that should be footnoted as inauthentic, is incorrect.
The format is a diverse canvas, 2,615 parts and counting. Sometimes, as seen at the MCG, the ball does all sorts for the fast men. Sometimes, it spins sharply on a spinning track. Sometimes, the pitch is unresponsive, other times it explodes.
The close matches are particularly captivating because of the time made in other matches.
Adjustment: The True Test
Some factors are accepted more readily than others.
The argument in Melbourne was that the balance was tipped too far towards the bowlers. That the skilled individuals were unable from playing their natural game.
This level of cricket is about adapting to challenges – assessing the wicket and adjusting accordingly. The best individual innings were made by world-class batters. One team made more mistakes than the other, and thus were defeated.
Sheer Celebration: The Fan Perspective
Try telling the devotees who have suffered 18 winless matches that this lacked spectacle.
In one section of the ground, a sea of people waved their flags and created an atmosphere, generating a festive mood in a heartland of Australian cricket.
There was hope as the bowlers surged, momentum when batters scored quickly, and pure joy when the victory was secured.
Contrasting Examples: The Range of Test Matches
The MCG has a history with controversial surfaces. Eight years ago, a game there featured a strip with the character of a a non-event.
That match was a marathon, with minimal action and interminable tedium. The latest encounter and that slow Test are diametrically opposed points of the range – neither ideal, yet significance can be found in each.
At this stage into the ongoing battle, it is the quick finishes that will live longest in the history books.
"It's not the demise of the long game at all," commented a former player. "The people who have been lucky enough to see these 48 hours have been given some fantastic sport. Different entertainment."
Baby Steps: Building for the Future
In the preparation to this match, the leader addressed the media like a man carrying the weight of the world on his back.
The players delivered for him, bringing back the positive demeanor to his countenance.
Emerging talents stepped up with crucial roles. These are baby steps, hardly enough to ensure long-term success, but something to use as a platform.
In the end, this triumph takes its place among other memorable performances in dead rubbers.
As the supporters left into a glorious Melbourne evening, the squad congregated on the outfield to begin their own festivities.
Enjoy the drink, lads. You've earned this one.
