Within a display cabinet on the upper level of the Melbourne Cricket Ground is housed a vibrant pink outfit donned by Robbie Williams. The concert in front of 100,024 attendees was considered a triumph.
It's possible you appreciate 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 songs are belting while others are awful.
The key argument is that entertainment can be delivered diversely. Tastes vary. There is no one way to produce art or even Test cricket.
The Unrivalled Depth of Test Cricket
The traditional format boasts incomparable variety. It's difficult to think of another sport where the contest is so reliant upon conditions.
The weather, the time of day, the red ball – the factors are countless. Above all is the wicket.
If Test cricket is an artistic pursuit, the pitch is the canvas on which the players create their art.
A Test of Cubism: The MCG Match
The fourth Ashes Test between Australia and England was the game deconstructed, the traditional sport broken apart and stuck back together in a bizarre shape.
It must be stated this is not a defence of the wicket which produced a win and the second two-day Test of the contest.
Allowing a thick layer on the pitch, causing 36 wickets tumbling in less than six sessions, is not an even battle between batter and bowler.
A Varied History: The Nature of Test Cricket
But any idea this was a inferior show, one that should be qualified as inauthentic, is mistaken.
The long game is a diverse canvas, over two thousand matches and ongoing. Sometimes, like in Melbourne, the ball behaves unpredictably for the fast men. Other times, it spins sharply on a dry surface. At other venues, the pitch is flat as a pancake, other times it explodes.
The thrillers are particularly captivating due to the investment committed in other matches.
Problem Solving: The Real Challenge
Specific conditions are tolerated more easily than others.
The argument in during the match was that the balance was weighted unfairly towards the fielding side. That the top batters were prevented from playing their natural game.
Test cricket is about finding solutions – interpreting the wicket and adapting accordingly. The top two individual innings were made by world-class players. One team committed more errors than the other, and thus were defeated.
Pure Elation: For Those Who Waited
Attempt to convince the supporters who have endured years of defeat that this lacked spectacle.
Among the crowd of the stadium, countless fans waved their flags and chanted, generating a party atmosphere in a heartland of national pride.
There was optimism as the attack excelled, advantage when batters fought back, and unconditional love when the victory was confirmed.
Extreme Ends: The Range of Test Matches
The MCG has previous experience with controversial surfaces. In the past, a Test there featured a pitch with all the life of a a damp squib.
That match was a grind, with minimal action and slow play. The latest encounter and that previous match are diametrically opposed points of the scale – one is not more perfect, yet historical weight can be ascribed to them.
Four Tests into the ongoing battle, it is the two-day matches that will be most remembered in the history books.
"Far from being the end of Test cricket at all," observed a former player. "Fans who have been privileged to see these 48 hours have been given some real entertainment. An unusual spectacle."
Signs of Progress: Building for the Future
In the build-up to this Test, the captain spoke like a man carrying the enormous pressure on his back.
The team delivered for him, reinstating the joy to his countenance.
Emerging talents delivered with vital performances. These are incremental gains, hardly enough to guarantee long-term stability, but something to develop from.
At the very least, this triumph takes its place among other memorable performances in similar circumstances.
As the supporters departed into a beautiful night, the team congregated on the outfield to start their own enjoyment.
Celebrate the win, men. You've earned this one.
