Within a display cabinet on the third floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground rests a neon pink suit performed in by Robbie Williams. The concert in front of a massive crowd of spectators was seen as a triumph.
You might not like the performer. Perhaps you believe he is the ultimate present to music in history. You might take a middle ground, conceding that some songs are excellent while others are terrible.
The key argument is that amusement can manifest in countless ways. You like what you like. There is not a single method to create literature or even the longest format.
The Peerless Spectrum of Test Cricket
Test cricket boasts incomparable variety. It is hard to think of another sport where the playing is so dictated by the environment.
The elements, the time of day, the cricket ball – the factors are countless. Above all is the pitch.
If the long game is an artistic pursuit, the wicket is the foundation on which the cricketers craft their legacy.
A Broken-Down Battle: The MCG Match
The Boxing Day fixture between the old rivals was the game deconstructed, the established format taken to pieces and reassembled in a bizarre shape.
Let's be clear, this isn't a endorsement of the wicket which resulted in a win and the another short match of the contest.
Having a thick layer on the pitch, causing 36 wickets falling in less than six sessions, is not an even battle between offense and defense.
A Rich Tapestry: The Essence of Test Cricket
But any idea this was a lesser event, one that should be footnoted as illegitimate, is wide of the mark.
Test cricket is a rich tapestry, 2,615 parts and still growing. Sometimes, as seen at the MCG, the ball moves excessively for the fast men. Other times, it grips and turns on a dust bowl. Sometimes, the pitch is flat as a pancake, other times it explodes.
The exciting finishes are particularly captivating owing to the investment committed elsewhere.
Adjustment: The Core Skill
Certain variables are tolerated more readily than others.
The contention in Melbourne was that the equilibrium was skewed excessively towards the fielding side. That the skilled individuals were prevented from playing their natural game.
Test cricket is about problem solving – reading the situation and responding appropriately. The top two individual innings were made by acknowledged players. One line-up was less disciplined than the other, and thus lost.
Sheer Celebration: For Those Who Waited
Try telling the fans who have suffered years of defeat that this lacked spectacle.
Among the crowd of the ground, thousands celebrated and chanted, fostering a festive mood in a heartland of Australian cricket.
There was hope as the bowlers excelled, advantage when the top order fought back, and rapturous celebration when the win was secured.
Contrasting Examples: The Spectrum of Test Matches
The MCG has form with controversial surfaces. In the past, a Test there featured a pitch with all the life of a pulled Christmas cracker.
That contest was a slog, with few wickets and interminable tedium. This recent match and that slow Test are diametrically opposed points of the spectrum – one is not more ideal, yet value can be attached to them.
Four Tests into the current series, it is the quick finishes that will be most remembered in the memory.
"Far from being the end of the format at all," observed a past champion. "The people who have been privileged to see these two days have been treated to some genuine drama. An unusual spectacle."
Small Victories: Looking Ahead
In the preparation to this Test, the leader spoke like a man carrying the heavy burden on his mind.
The players responded for him, reinstating the smile to his countenance.
Emerging talents stepped up with crucial roles. These are incremental gains, hardly enough to secure long-term futures, but a starting point to use as a platform.
At the very least, this triumph takes its place among other notable performances in similar circumstances.
As the supporters left into a glorious Melbourne evening, the players assembled on the turf to start their own festivities.
Savour the moment, men. It's well deserved.
