Displayed inside a glass case on the third floor of the MCG sits a electric pink outfit worn by Robbie Williams. His show in front of 100,024 spectators was seen as a success.
You might not like the performer. Maybe you feel he is the ultimate present to music in history. Or you could adopt a middle ground, conceding that some hits are belting while others are terrible.
The point being is that enjoyment can manifest in countless ways. You like what you like. There is no universal formula to craft music or even five-day cricket.
The Peerless Spectrum of The Test Format
Test cricket boasts unrivalled depth. One struggles to think of another sport where the playing is so dictated by conditions.
The weather, the session, the red ball – the list is endless. Most important is the wicket.
If the format is an artistic pursuit, the wicket is the foundation on which the players paint their masterpiece.
A Broken-Down Battle: The MCG Match
The Boxing Day fixture between the two sides was Test cricket cubism, the great game taken to pieces and reassembled in a bizarre shape.
This is not a endorsement of the wicket which resulted in a victory and the another sub-three-day finish of the contest.
Allowing excessive grass on the wicket, leading to a cascade of wickets tumbling in less than two days, is not a fair contest between batter and bowler.
A Varied History: The Nature of Test Cricket
But any suggestion this was a inferior show, one that should be footnoted as illegitimate, is wide of the mark.
The format is a rich tapestry, over two thousand matches and still growing. Sometimes, as seen at the MCG, the cricket ball behaves unpredictably for the seamers. Sometimes, it grips and turns on a spinning track. At other venues, the pitch is unresponsive, other times it explodes.
The thrillers are even more exciting owing to the time devoted in other matches.
Adaptation: The Real Challenge
Certain variables are accepted more easily than others.
The contention in at the MCG was that the contest was weighted unfairly towards the attack. That the best players were unable from showcasing their talents.
The format is about finding solutions – reading the wicket and adjusting effectively. The best individual innings were made by acknowledged batters. One line-up committed more errors than the other, and thus were defeated.
Sheer Celebration: The Supporters' View
Go and inform the supporters who have suffered a long drought that this was not entertaining.
Among the crowd of the stadium, countless fans made noise and chanted, generating a party atmosphere in a stronghold of sport.
There was hope as the attack surged, advantage when batters fought back, and unconditional love when the win was achieved.
Contrasting Examples: The Range of Test Matches
The Melbourne has previous experience with difficult wickets. Eight years ago, a Test there featured a pitch with the character of a pulled Christmas cracker.
That contest was a marathon, with few wickets and slow play. The two-day game and that previous match are polar opposites of the scale – both are not ideal, yet significance can be attached to each.
Four Tests into the Ashes contest, it is the shortest games that will remain iconic in the history books.
"Far from being the demise of the long game at all," observed a past champion. "Fans who have been fortunate to see these two days have been given some real entertainment. Different entertainment."
Small Victories: A Glimmer of Hope
In the lead-in to this match, the skipper talked like a man carrying the weight of the world on his back.
The team delivered for him, reinstating the smile to his face.
Different players performed with vital performances. These are baby steps, hardly enough to guarantee long-term stability, but a foundation to build on.
Ultimately, this MCG win joins other historic performances in meaningless games.
As the supporters slipped away into a beautiful night, the team assembled on the field to begin their own celebrations.
Celebrate the win, boys. This victory was hard-fought.
