Displayed inside a glass case on the elevated floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground is housed a vibrant pink ensemble worn by Robbie Williams. His performance in front of 100,024 spectators was considered a triumph.
It's possible you appreciate the performer. You might think he is the finest offering to music the world has ever seen. Or you could adopt a reasonable stance, admitting that some hits are excellent while others are poor.
The point being is that entertainment can be delivered diversely. You like what you like. There is no universal formula to produce art or even Test cricket.
The Unrivalled Depth of The Test Format
The five-day game boasts peerless complexity. One struggles to think of another sport where the contest is so dictated by the environment.
The climate, the session, the ball – the variables are numerous. Most important is the playing surface.
If the long game is art, the strip is the foundation on which the cricketers create their art.
A Broken-Down Battle: The Melbourne Spectacle
The recent Melbourne match between Australia and England was an abstract version of cricket, the traditional sport broken apart and reassembled in an unusual manner.
Let's be clear, this isn't a justification of the wicket which produced a win and the another sub-three-day finish of the contest.
Allowing excessive grass on the wicket, resulting in 36 wickets being taken in less than two days, is not a balanced duel between batter and bowler.
A Varied History: The Core of Test Cricket
But any suggestion this was a diminished spectacle, one that should be qualified as illegitimate, is wide of the mark.
The format is a varied portfolio, a long history and ongoing. Sometimes, as seen at the MCG, the ball does all sorts for the fast men. Sometimes, it grips and turns on a dry surface. Sometimes, the pitch is dead, other times it spits like a cobra.
The close matches are all the more thrilling due to the investment made during quieter periods.
Adjustment: The True Test
Certain variables are tolerated more readily than others.
The debate in during the match was that the equilibrium was skewed excessively towards the bowlers. That the top batters were prevented from showcasing their talents.
This level of cricket is about finding solutions – reading the conditions and adjusting accordingly. The best individual innings were made by acknowledged stars. One line-up was less disciplined than the other, and thus lost.
Pure Elation: The Fan Perspective
Go and inform the devotees who have endured years of defeat that this was not entertaining.
Among the crowd of the MCG, a sea of people celebrated and created an atmosphere, generating a festive mood in a stronghold of sport.
There was belief as the bowlers excelled, advantage when batters scored quickly, and unconditional love when the result was secured.
Contrasting Examples: The Spectrum of Test Matches
The Melbourne has a history with controversial surfaces. In the past, a Test there featured a strip with the character of a a damp squib.
That fixture was a slog, with limited drama and endless boredom. This recent match and that previous match are diametrically opposed points of the range – both are not perfect, yet significance can be ascribed to both.
Four Tests into the Ashes contest, it is the two-day matches that will live longest in the history books.
"It's not the demise of the format at all," commented a former player. "Spectators who have been fortunate to see these short time have been treated to some real entertainment. A unique show."
Small Victories: A Glimmer of Hope
In the lead-in to this Test, the skipper spoke like a man carrying the enormous pressure on his shoulders.
The players delivered for him, bringing back the joy to his face.
New faces delivered with key contributions. These are small positives, hardly enough to guarantee long-term stability, but a starting point to develop from.
Ultimately, this MCG win is added to other historic performances in meaningless games.
As the crowd departed into a glorious Melbourne evening, the squad congregated on the field to begin their own enjoyment.
Savour the moment, boys. This victory was hard-fought.