Displayed inside a showcase on the elevated floor of the iconic Melbourne stadium is housed a neon pink ensemble performed in by Robbie Williams. The performance in front of 100,024 spectators was hailed as a triumph.
You might not like Robbie Williams. You might think he is the finest offering to music known to man. You might take a reasonable stance, acknowledging that some songs are fantastic while others are terrible.
The central idea is that amusement can take many forms. You like what you like. There is no one way to create literature or even Test cricket.
The Unrivalled Depth of The Test Format
The five-day game boasts incomparable variety. It is hard to think of another sport where the contest is so dictated by the environment.
The weather, the hour of play, the cricket ball – the factors are countless. Most important is the pitch.
If the format is a form of art, the pitch is the blank slate on which the athletes create their art.
A Test of Cubism: The MCG Match
The fourth Ashes Test between Australia and England was the game deconstructed, the great game taken to pieces and stuck back together in an unusual manner.
Let's be clear, this isn't a defence of the wicket which yielded a triumph and the another short match of the contest.
Having 10mm of grass on the surface, resulting in numerous dismissals being taken in less than a brief period, is not an even battle between batter and bowler.
A Rich Tapestry: The Essence of Test Cricket
But any idea this was a inferior show, one that should be marked with an asterisk as inauthentic, is mistaken.
Test cricket is a varied portfolio, over two thousand matches and ongoing. Sometimes, as witnessed recently, the cricket ball does all sorts for the fast men. In contrast, it spins sharply on a spinning track. At other venues, the pitch is dead, other times it explodes.
The exciting finishes are even more exciting because of the patience devoted elsewhere.
Adaptation: The True Test
Certain variables are embraced more easily than others.
The argument in at the MCG was that the balance was tipped too far towards the attack. That the top batters were prevented from playing their natural game.
Test cricket is about finding solutions – reading the situation and adjusting accordingly. The best individual scores were made by recognized batters. One team was less disciplined than the other, and thus lost.
Sheer Celebration: The Supporters' View
Go and inform the supporters who have experienced 18 winless matches that this lacked spectacle.
In a corner of the ground, a sea of people made noise and chanted, producing a party atmosphere in a stronghold of national pride.
There was optimism as the fielding side surged, advantage when players fought back, and pure joy when the victory was achieved.
Contrasting Examples: The Spectrum of Test Matches
The MCG has form with difficult wickets. Previously, a Test there featured a pitch with all the life of a pulled Christmas cracker.
That contest was a grind, with limited drama and endless boredom. The latest encounter and that previous match are diametrically opposed points of the range – both are not perfect, yet value can be attached to them.
Four Tests into the Ashes contest, it is the quick finishes that will live longest in the history books.
"This isn't the end of the format at all," commented a former player. "The people who have been lucky enough to see these 48 hours have been experienced some genuine drama. Different entertainment."
Small Victories: A Glimmer of Hope
In the preparation to this match, the skipper talked like a man carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.
The players protected him, restoring the positive demeanor to his countenance.
Emerging talents performed with vital performances. These are incremental gains, hardly enough to guarantee long-term futures, but something to develop from.
At the very least, this triumph is added to other memorable performances in dead rubbers.
As the crowd left into a glorious Melbourne evening, the players congregated on the field to begin their own festivities.
Celebrate the win, men. It's well deserved.
