Displayed inside a glass case on the upper level of the MCG is housed a neon pink ensemble performed in by Robbie Williams. The show in front of a massive crowd of spectators was seen as a triumph.
It's possible you enjoy his music. Maybe you feel he is the finest offering to music the world has ever seen. You might take a balanced view, acknowledging that some hits are excellent while others are terrible.
The key argument is that amusement can manifest in countless ways. Tastes vary. There is no one way to craft music or even five-day cricket.
The Peerless Spectrum of The Test Format
The five-day game boasts incomparable variety. It's difficult to think of another sport where the contest is so dependent on external factors.
The climate, the time of day, the red ball – the variables are numerous. Most important is the pitch.
If the long game is an artistic pursuit, the strip is the canvas on which the cricketers paint their masterpiece.
An Abstract Contest: The Fourth Test
The Boxing Day fixture between the two sides was Test cricket cubism, the great game taken to pieces and reconstructed in a bizarre shape.
This is not a defence of the pitch which resulted in a win and the second two-day Test of the Ashes battle.
Allowing 10mm of grass on the surface, leading to a cascade of wickets tumbling in less than six sessions, is not a fair contest between batter and bowler.
A Diverse Legacy: The Core of Test Cricket
But any notion this was a diminished spectacle, one that should be qualified as illegitimate, is incorrect.
Test cricket is a diverse canvas, over two thousand matches and still growing. At times, like in Melbourne, the cricket ball moves excessively for the seamers. Sometimes, it grips and turns on a dry surface. At other venues, the pitch is flat as a pancake, other times it bounces unevenly.
The close matches are even more exciting because of the patience committed during quieter periods.
Problem Solving: The Core Skill
Specific conditions are accepted more freely than others.
The debate in during the match was that the balance was weighted unfairly towards the fielding side. That the best players were prevented from playing their natural game.
This level of cricket is about finding solutions – interpreting the wicket and adapting appropriately. The top two individual contributions were made by world-class players. One team committed more errors than the other, and thus were defeated.
Sheer Celebration: For Those Who Waited
Go and inform the devotees who have suffered a long drought that this wasn't compelling.
Among the crowd of the stadium, a sea of people waved their flags and chanted, fostering a carnival vibe in a bastion of national pride.
There was belief as the attack surged, momentum when players fought back, and rapturous celebration when the win was achieved.
Extreme Ends: The Variety of Test Matches
The Melbourne has previous experience with difficult wickets. In the past, a game there featured a wicket with all the life of a a non-event.
That match was a marathon, with minimal action and endless boredom. This recent match and that drawn affair are polar opposites of the spectrum – one is not more perfect, yet value can be attached to both.
Four Tests into the ongoing battle, it is the quick finishes that will live longest in the collective consciousness.
"Far from being the death of Test cricket at all," observed a veteran. "Spectators who have been privileged to see these short time have been given some fantastic sport. An unusual spectacle."
Small Victories: Building for the Future
In the lead-in to this match, the leader talked like a man carrying the enormous pressure on his mind.
The players protected him, bringing back the smile to his face.
Different players stepped up with crucial roles. These are incremental gains, not nearly enough to secure long-term stability, but a foundation to use as a platform.
Ultimately, this MCG win takes its place among other memorable performances in dead rubbers.
As the fans departed into a beautiful night, the squad assembled on the field to commence their own celebrations.
Savour the moment, men. It's well deserved.
