Displayed inside a display cabinet on the upper level of the Melbourne Cricket Ground is housed a neon pink ensemble donned by Robbie Williams. The show in front of a massive crowd of spectators was hailed as a major hit.
Perhaps you don't like Robbie Williams. Maybe you feel he is the finest offering to music the world has ever seen. You might take a middle ground, conceding that some songs are excellent while others are awful.
The point being is that enjoyment can be delivered diversely. Preferences differ. There is not a single method to produce music or even five-day cricket.
The Incomparable Variety of The Test Format
The traditional format boasts incomparable variety. It's difficult to think of another sport where the outcome is so dictated by external factors.
The climate, the time of day, the cricket ball – the variables are numerous. Above all is the playing surface.
If Test cricket is an artistic pursuit, the strip is the blank slate on which the cricketers create their art.
An Abstract Contest: The Melbourne Spectacle
The Boxing Day fixture between the old rivals was an abstract version of cricket, the established format taken to pieces and stuck back together in a bizarre shape.
It must be stated this is not a defence of the wicket which resulted in a win and the another short match of the contest.
Having excessive grass on the wicket, leading to 36 wickets tumbling in less than two days, is not a fair contest between bat and ball.
A Rich Tapestry: The Essence of Test Cricket
But any suggestion this was a lesser event, one that should be marked with an asterisk as illegitimate, is wide of the mark.
The long game is a diverse canvas, over two thousand matches and counting. At times, as seen at the MCG, the cricket ball behaves unpredictably for the pace bowlers. Other times, it turns square on a spinning track. Sometimes, the pitch is dead, other times it bounces unevenly.
The thrillers are all the more thrilling owing to the time made elsewhere.
Adjustment: The Real Challenge
Certain variables are tolerated more easily than others.
The argument in during the match was that the contest was weighted unfairly towards the bowlers. That the best players were hindered from playing their natural game.
This level of cricket is about adapting to challenges – interpreting the wicket and adjusting effectively. The top two individual scores were made by acknowledged players. One team was less disciplined than the other, and thus ended up second best.
Sheer Celebration: The Fan Perspective
Try telling the fans who have endured 18 winless matches that this lacked spectacle.
In a corner of the ground, countless fans made noise and created an atmosphere, generating a festive mood in a heartland of sport.
There was optimism as the bowlers surged, advantage when batters responded, and rapturous celebration when the result was secured.
Contrasting Examples: The Variety of Test Matches
The venue has form with pitch problems. Eight years ago, a match there featured a wicket with the character of a pulled Christmas cracker.
That contest was a slog, with few wickets and endless boredom. This recent match and that slow Test are diametrically opposed points of the spectrum – one is not more the standard, yet significance can be ascribed to them.
Four Tests into the Ashes contest, it is the quick finishes that will remain iconic in the history books.
"It's not the death of Test cricket at all," observed a veteran. "The people who have been fortunate to see these two days have been treated to some genuine drama. Different entertainment."
Signs of Progress: A Glimmer of Hope
In the preparation to this Test, the leader talked like a man carrying the enormous pressure on his back.
The players protected him, restoring the positive demeanor to his face.
New faces stepped up with vital performances. These are incremental gains, not nearly enough to guarantee long-term success, but something to build on.
In the end, this MCG win joins other memorable performances in meaningless games.
As the fans departed into a glorious Melbourne evening, the squad assembled on the turf to start their own enjoyment.
Celebrate the win, men. This victory was hard-fought.
