In a display cabinet on the elevated floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground sits a electric pink suit donned by Robbie Williams. His show in front of 100,024 attendees was hailed as a triumph.
You might not enjoy Robbie Williams. You might think he is the greatest gift to music the world has ever seen. Or you could adopt a middle ground, admitting that some tracks are belting 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 five-day cricket.
The Unrivalled Depth of The Test Format
The five-day game boasts unrivalled depth. It's difficult to think of another sport where the playing is so reliant upon external factors.
The climate, the session, the ball – the list is endless. Above all is the playing surface.
If the format is an artistic pursuit, the strip is the foundation on which the cricketers paint their masterpiece.
A Test of Cubism: The MCG Match
The recent Melbourne match between Australia and England was the game deconstructed, the traditional sport taken to pieces and reassembled in an unusual manner.
Let's be clear, this isn't a defence of the wicket which yielded a triumph and the another sub-three-day finish of the series.
Having a thick layer on the pitch, leading to 36 wickets falling in less than six sessions, is not a fair contest between offense and defense.
A Diverse Legacy: The Essence of Test Cricket
But any suggestion this was a inferior show, one that should be qualified as illegitimate, is wide of the mark.
Test cricket is a diverse canvas, 2,615 parts and counting. At times, like in Melbourne, the cricket ball behaves unpredictably for the seamers. Other times, it turns square on a dust bowl. Sometimes, the pitch is unresponsive, other times it spits like a cobra.
The exciting finishes are all the more thrilling because of the patience committed elsewhere.
Problem Solving: The Core Skill
Specific conditions are tolerated more readily than others.
The argument in Melbourne was that the equilibrium was weighted unfairly towards the fielding side. That the skilled individuals were unable from playing their natural game.
This level of cricket is about adapting to challenges – interpreting the conditions and responding effectively. The two highest individual innings were made by world-class stars. One side was less disciplined than the other, and thus lost.
Sheer Celebration: The Supporters' View
Attempt to convince the fans who have endured 18 winless matches that this wasn't compelling.
Among the crowd of the ground, thousands waved their flags and created an atmosphere, producing a party atmosphere in a bastion of sport.
There was hope as the attack dominated, impetus when the top order fought back, and rapturous celebration when the result was achieved.
Polar Opposites: The Variety of Test Matches
The Melbourne has a history with controversial surfaces. In the past, a Test there featured a pitch with the character of a pulled Christmas cracker.
That fixture was a grind, with few wickets and endless boredom. This recent match and that drawn affair are diametrically opposed points of the range – both are not perfect, yet significance can be attached to them.
At this stage into the Ashes contest, it is the quick finishes that will live longest in the collective consciousness.
"Far from being the end of Test cricket at all," observed a past champion. "Spectators who have been privileged to see these short time have been given some fantastic sport. Different entertainment."
Small Victories: A Glimmer of Hope
In the preparation to this match, the captain spoke like a man carrying the heavy burden on his shoulders.
The squad protected him, reinstating the joy to his countenance.
Emerging talents stepped up with vital performances. These are small positives, hardly enough to ensure long-term success, but something to develop from.
In the end, this MCG win is added to other notable performances in meaningless games.
As the crowd left into a beautiful night, the players assembled on the turf to commence their own celebrations.
Enjoy the drink, boys. It's well deserved.
