Displayed inside a glass case on the third floor of the MCG is housed a electric pink suit performed in by the pop star. His performance in front of 100,024 spectators was considered a triumph.
It's possible you like Robbie Williams. Perhaps you believe he is the finest offering to music the world has ever seen. Alternatively, you may hold a reasonable stance, acknowledging that some hits are excellent while others are awful.
The point being is that enjoyment can be delivered diversely. You like what you like. There is no universal formula to create art or even the longest format.
The Incomparable Variety 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 elements, the hour of play, the ball – the factors are countless. Crucially is the playing surface.
If the format is art, the pitch is the foundation on which the athletes create their art.
An Abstract Contest: The Fourth Test
The recent Melbourne match between Australia and England was an abstract version of cricket, the great game dismantled and reconstructed in abstract form.
Let's be clear, this isn't a defence of the surface which yielded a triumph and the another sub-three-day finish of the contest.
Leaving 10mm of grass on the pitch, causing 36 wickets tumbling in less than two days, is not a fair contest between bat and ball.
A Varied History: The Core of Test Cricket
But any notion this was a inferior show, one that should be qualified as not a proper Test, is incorrect.
The long game is a rich tapestry, over two thousand matches and ongoing. On occasion, like in Melbourne, the cricket ball behaves unpredictably for the seamers. Other times, it grips and turns on a spinning track. Sometimes, the pitch is unresponsive, other times it spits like a cobra.
The thrillers are all the more thrilling because of the time made elsewhere.
Problem Solving: The True Test
Certain variables are accepted more easily than others.
The debate in during the match was that the contest was weighted unfairly towards the attack. That the skilled individuals were prevented from playing their natural game.
Test cricket is about finding solutions – interpreting the situation and adapting appropriately. The best individual scores were made by world-class stars. One team committed more errors than the other, and thus were defeated.
Pure Elation: The Fan Perspective
Try telling the supporters who have experienced a long drought that this wasn't compelling.
In one section of the MCG, a sea of people waved their flags and sang their songs, fostering a festive mood in a stronghold of national pride.
There was optimism as the bowlers dominated, impetus when players responded, and rapturous celebration when the win was confirmed.
Polar Opposites: The Spectrum of Test Matches
The venue has a history with controversial surfaces. Previously, a Test there featured a wicket with the character of a pulled Christmas cracker.
That contest was a grind, with minimal action and slow play. The two-day game and that previous match are diametrically opposed points of the scale – one is not more the standard, yet significance can be found in each.
Deep into the series into the Ashes contest, it is the shortest games that will live longest in the collective consciousness.
"Far from being the death of the format at all," said a former player. "The people who have been fortunate to see these two days have been experienced some fantastic sport. An unusual spectacle."
Signs of Progress: A Glimmer of Hope
In the lead-in to this match, the leader addressed the media like a man carrying the heavy burden on his mind.
The squad delivered for him, bringing back the smile to his persona.
New faces performed with vital performances. These are small positives, hardly enough to secure long-term futures, but a foundation to build on.
At the very least, this Melbourne victory takes its place among other historic performances in dead rubbers.
As the supporters departed into a stunning sunset, the squad gathered on the outfield to begin their own festivities.
Celebrate the win, men. This victory was hard-fought.
