Within a glass case on the third floor of the MCG rests a neon pink suit worn by Robbie Williams. The show in front of 100,024 attendees was seen as a major hit.
You might not like his music. Maybe you feel he is the finest offering to music in history. You might take a balanced view, admitting that some tracks are belting while others are terrible.
The key argument is that amusement can be delivered diversely. 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 incomparable variety. One struggles to think of another sport where the outcome is so reliant upon external factors.
The elements, the session, the cricket ball – the factors are countless. Most important is the pitch.
If the format is a form of art, the wicket is the foundation on which the cricketers paint their masterpiece.
A Test of Cubism: The MCG Match
The recent Melbourne match between the old rivals was Test cricket cubism, the great game taken to pieces and reconstructed in an unusual manner.
Let's be clear, this isn't a defence of the pitch which yielded a triumph and the second two-day Test of the Ashes battle.
Allowing excessive grass on the wicket, leading to numerous dismissals falling in less than two days, is not an even battle between bat and ball.
A Varied History: The Core of Test Cricket
But any suggestion this was a inferior show, one that should be footnoted as illegitimate, is wide of the mark.
The long game is a diverse canvas, over two thousand matches and still growing. On occasion, like in Melbourne, the ball moves excessively for the fast men. In contrast, it grips and turns on a spinning track. At other venues, the pitch is unresponsive, other times it bounces unevenly.
The close matches are all the more thrilling due to the time committed in other matches.
Problem Solving: The True Test
Specific conditions are embraced more readily than others.
The argument in during the match was that the contest was skewed excessively towards the attack. That the best players were unable from demonstrating their skill.
This level of cricket is about finding solutions – assessing the conditions and adjusting effectively. The top two individual contributions were made by acknowledged batters. One team made more mistakes than the other, and thus ended up second best.
Sheer Celebration: The Supporters' View
Attempt to convince the supporters who have suffered years of defeat that this lacked spectacle.
In a corner of the MCG, thousands celebrated and chanted, producing a party atmosphere in a stronghold of sport.
There was hope as the bowlers excelled, impetus when the top order responded, and rapturous celebration when the victory was secured.
Contrasting Examples: The Range of Test Matches
The MCG has a history with controversial surfaces. In the past, a game there featured a strip with all the life of a a damp squib.
That contest was a slog, with minimal action and endless boredom. This recent match and that drawn affair are polar opposites of the spectrum – neither the standard, yet significance can be ascribed to them.
Deep into the series into the current series, it is the two-day matches that will remain iconic in the memory.
"This isn't the death of the format at all," commented a former player. "Fans who have been fortunate to see these two days have been treated to some genuine drama. An unusual spectacle."
Signs of Progress: Looking Ahead
In the preparation to this match, the captain addressed the media like a man carrying the heavy burden on his shoulders.
The team delivered for him, reinstating the positive demeanor to his countenance.
New faces performed with crucial roles. These are baby steps, certainly not enough to secure long-term futures, but a foundation to develop from.
In the end, this Melbourne victory is added to other historic performances in similar circumstances.
As the crowd departed into a glorious Melbourne evening, the players gathered on the turf to begin their own enjoyment.
Enjoy the drink, men. It's well deserved.
