In a display cabinet on the third floor of the MCG is housed a electric pink ensemble worn by the entertainer. The performance in front of a massive crowd of spectators was seen as a triumph.
You might not enjoy Robbie Williams. Perhaps you believe he is the ultimate present to music in history. Or you could adopt a reasonable stance, acknowledging that some hits are belting while others are terrible.
The central idea is that amusement can manifest in countless ways. You like what you like. There is no one way to craft music or even the longest format.
The Unrivalled Depth of The Test Format
Test cricket boasts peerless complexity. One struggles to think of another sport where the outcome is so dependent on the environment.
The weather, the hour of play, the red ball – the factors are countless. Most important is the pitch.
If the format is art, the wicket is the canvas on which the cricketers paint their masterpiece.
An Abstract Contest: The Melbourne Spectacle
The Boxing Day fixture between the old rivals was the game deconstructed, the traditional sport broken apart and stuck back together in a bizarre shape.
Let's be clear, this isn't a defence of the pitch which yielded a win and the another short match of the Ashes battle.
Having 10mm of grass on the pitch, leading to numerous dismissals falling in less than six sessions, is not an even battle between batter and bowler.
A Rich Tapestry: The Nature of Test Cricket
But any suggestion this was a diminished spectacle, one that should be footnoted as inauthentic, is wide of the mark.
The long game is a diverse canvas, 2,615 parts and counting. At times, as seen at the MCG, the ball behaves unpredictably for the pace bowlers. Other times, it grips and turns on a dry surface. Sometimes, the pitch is flat as a pancake, other times it spits like a cobra.
The thrillers are particularly captivating due to the patience committed in other matches.
Problem Solving: The Real Challenge
Specific conditions are accepted more freely than others.
The argument in Melbourne was that the balance was weighted unfairly towards the fielding side. That the top batters were hindered from playing their natural game.
This level of cricket is about problem solving – reading the situation and adapting appropriately. The top two individual innings were made by world-class stars. One line-up was less disciplined than the other, and thus ended up second best.
Sheer Celebration: The Supporters' View
Try telling the devotees who have suffered 18 winless matches that this was not entertaining.
In one section of the stadium, a sea of people made noise and created an atmosphere, generating a carnival vibe in a bastion of Australian cricket.
There was optimism as the bowlers excelled, impetus when the top order fought back, and rapturous celebration when the win was secured.
Extreme Ends: The Range of Test Matches
The venue has previous experience with pitch problems. Eight years ago, a game there featured a strip with the excitement of a a damp squib.
That match was a grind, with minimal action and endless boredom. The two-day game and that previous match are polar opposites of the spectrum – neither the standard, yet value can be attached to both.
Four Tests into the Ashes contest, it is the two-day matches that will remain iconic in the collective consciousness.
"This isn't the demise of the long game at all," observed a veteran. "The people who have been privileged to see these 48 hours have been experienced some fantastic sport. Different entertainment."
Signs of Progress: Building for the Future
In the preparation to this match, the skipper addressed the media like a man carrying the enormous pressure on his mind.
The squad responded for him, reinstating the smile to his persona.
Different players delivered with key contributions. These are incremental gains, hardly enough to guarantee long-term success, but something to develop from.
In the end, this MCG win takes its place among other notable performances in dead rubbers.
As the crowd departed into a stunning sunset, the players assembled on the outfield to commence their own enjoyment.
Enjoy the drink, lads. This victory was hard-fought.
