Displayed inside a glass case on the elevated floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground rests a electric pink outfit performed in by Robbie Williams. His performance in front of a hundred thousand spectators was hailed as a success.
It's possible you enjoy Robbie Williams. Maybe you feel he is the ultimate present to music known to man. Or you could adopt a balanced view, conceding that some hits are excellent while others are awful.
The point being is that entertainment can take many forms. Tastes vary. There is no universal formula to produce music or even the longest format.
The Unrivalled Depth of The Long Game
The five-day game boasts unrivalled depth. It's difficult to think of another sport where the contest is so reliant upon the environment.
The weather, the time of day, the cricket ball – the variables are numerous. Crucially is the pitch.
If Test cricket is art, the pitch is the canvas on which the players create their art.
A Broken-Down Battle: The MCG Match
The Boxing Day fixture between the old rivals was an abstract version of cricket, the great game taken to pieces and stuck back together in abstract form.
It must be stated this is not a defence of the wicket which yielded a win and the second two-day Test of the contest.
Having excessive grass on the wicket, resulting in a cascade of wickets falling in less than a brief period, is not an even battle between batter and bowler.
A Rich Tapestry: The Nature of Test Cricket
But any suggestion this was a inferior show, one that should be footnoted as illegitimate, is incorrect.
The long game is a varied portfolio, a long history and still growing. On occasion, as witnessed recently, the ball moves excessively for the pace bowlers. Sometimes, it turns square on a dry surface. Sometimes, the pitch is dead, other times it explodes.
The close matches are particularly captivating because of the patience made elsewhere.
Adjustment: The True Test
Certain variables are accepted more readily than others.
The contention in during the match was that the equilibrium was weighted unfairly towards the bowlers. That the best players were prevented from playing their natural game.
This level of cricket is about problem solving – reading the situation and adapting accordingly. The best individual contributions were made by recognized batters. One line-up made more mistakes than the other, and thus were defeated.
Sheer Celebration: For Those Who Waited
Go and inform the fans who have endured 18 winless matches that this was not entertaining.
In one section of the stadium, thousands celebrated and sang their songs, fostering a festive mood in a bastion of national pride.
There was hope as the bowlers excelled, momentum when the top order responded, and rapturous celebration when the result was confirmed.
Polar Opposites: The Variety of Test Matches
The MCG has previous experience with controversial surfaces. In the past, a Test there featured a wicket with the excitement of a a non-event.
That contest was a marathon, with limited drama and slow play. The two-day game and that drawn affair are diametrically opposed points of the range – one is not more ideal, yet value can be found in each.
Deep into the series into the current series, it is the shortest games that will remain iconic in the collective consciousness.
"This isn't the end of the long game at all," said a past champion. "Spectators who have been lucky enough to see these short time have been given some genuine drama. An unusual spectacle."
Baby Steps: Building for the Future
In the preparation to this Test, the leader spoke like a man carrying the weight of the world on his mind.
The team delivered for him, restoring the positive demeanor to his persona.
Emerging talents stepped up with crucial roles. These are incremental gains, hardly enough to ensure long-term futures, but something to use as a platform.
At the very least, this Melbourne victory takes its place among other historic performances in similar circumstances.
As the crowd departed into a stunning sunset, the team congregated on the outfield to begin their own festivities.
Enjoy the drink, boys. It's well deserved.
