In a glass case on the elevated floor of the MCG rests a electric pink outfit performed in by Robbie Williams. The show in front of 100,024 fans was seen as a success.
Perhaps you don't appreciate the performer. Perhaps you believe he is the greatest gift to music the world has ever seen. Alternatively, you may hold a middle ground, conceding that some songs are excellent while others are terrible.
The central idea is that entertainment can be delivered diversely. You like what you like. There is no universal formula to craft music or even five-day cricket.
The Unrivalled Depth of The Long Game
The five-day game boasts incomparable variety. It is hard to think of another sport where the outcome is so dictated by conditions.
The climate, the time of day, the ball – the list is endless. Most important is the playing surface.
If the format is a form of art, the strip is the foundation on which the players create their art.
An Abstract Contest: The Melbourne Spectacle
The Boxing Day fixture between the two sides was Test cricket cubism, the established format dismantled and reconstructed in a bizarre shape.
This is not a justification of the surface which yielded a triumph and the another sub-three-day finish of the series.
Having excessive grass on the wicket, leading to 36 wickets falling in less than six sessions, is not an even battle between batter and bowler.
A Varied History: The Nature of Test Cricket
But any notion this was a diminished spectacle, one that should be marked with an asterisk as not a proper Test, is incorrect.
Test cricket is a varied portfolio, 2,615 parts and counting. On occasion, as seen at the MCG, the ball moves excessively for the pace bowlers. Sometimes, it spins sharply on a dry surface. At other venues, the pitch is dead, other times it bounces unevenly.
The exciting finishes are even more exciting due to the time made elsewhere.
Adaptation: The True Test
Some factors are accepted more freely than others.
The debate in at the MCG was that the balance was weighted unfairly towards the fielding side. That the best players were unable from playing their natural game.
The format is about problem solving – reading the wicket and adapting accordingly. The two highest individual scores were made by acknowledged players. One team committed more errors than the other, and thus lost.
Unbridled Joy: The Supporters' View
Try telling the devotees who have experienced 18 winless matches that this wasn't compelling.
In a corner of the stadium, a sea of people made noise and created an atmosphere, generating a festive mood in a bastion of national pride.
There was hope as the bowlers dominated, impetus when the top order scored quickly, and unconditional love when the win was secured.
Contrasting Examples: The Range of Test Matches
The MCG has form with difficult wickets. Previously, a Test there featured a wicket with the excitement of a a non-event.
That match was a marathon, with minimal action and slow play. The latest encounter and that previous match are diametrically opposed points of the range – one is not more perfect, yet significance can be found in both.
Four Tests into the current series, it is the quick finishes that will remain iconic in the collective consciousness.
"This isn't the demise of the long game at all," said a former player. "Fans who have been lucky enough to see these short time have been treated to some genuine drama. An unusual spectacle."
Small Victories: Looking Ahead
In the lead-in to this Test, the skipper addressed the media like a man carrying the weight of the world on his back.
The players protected him, bringing back the joy to his persona.
New faces stepped up with crucial roles. These are baby steps, not nearly enough to ensure long-term success, but a foundation to use as a platform.
In the end, this MCG win joins other memorable performances in similar circumstances.
As the crowd slipped away into a beautiful night, the squad assembled on the field to commence their own festivities.
Celebrate the win, boys. It's well deserved.
