Within a display cabinet on the third floor of the iconic Melbourne stadium rests a electric pink ensemble worn by Robbie Williams. His concert in front of 100,024 attendees was hailed as a major hit.
You might not enjoy the performer. Perhaps you believe he is the finest offering to music in history. You might take a balanced view, admitting that some tracks are excellent while others are awful.
The key argument is that amusement can manifest in countless ways. You like what you like. There is not a single method to create art or even the longest format.
The Incomparable Variety of The Long Game
Test cricket boasts peerless complexity. One struggles to think of another sport where the playing is so dictated by conditions.
The climate, the hour of play, the cricket ball – the factors are countless. Crucially is the pitch.
If Test cricket is an artistic pursuit, the wicket is the canvas on which the cricketers create their art.
An Abstract Contest: The Melbourne Spectacle
The Boxing Day fixture between Australia and England was the game deconstructed, the great game dismantled and reassembled in abstract form.
It must be stated this is not a endorsement of the surface which resulted in a win and the second two-day Test of the contest.
Leaving 10mm of grass on the pitch, causing a cascade of wickets tumbling in less than a brief period, is not a fair contest between bat and ball.
A Varied History: The Essence of Test Cricket
But any notion this was a lesser event, one that should be qualified as not a proper Test, is mistaken.
The format is a varied portfolio, over two thousand matches and counting. At times, as witnessed recently, the cricket ball does all sorts for the seamers. Other times, it spins sharply on a spinning track. Sometimes, the pitch is dead, other times it explodes.
The exciting finishes are all the more thrilling owing to the patience made in other matches.
Adaptation: The True Test
Some factors are tolerated more readily than others.
The contention in during the match was that the equilibrium was skewed excessively towards the attack. That the top batters were hindered from showcasing their talents.
Test cricket is about finding solutions – interpreting the conditions and responding appropriately. The two highest individual contributions were made by recognized players. One team made more mistakes than the other, and thus were defeated.
Unbridled Joy: For Those Who Waited
Attempt to convince the fans who have experienced 18 winless matches that this wasn't compelling.
In a corner of the ground, thousands waved their flags and created an atmosphere, fostering a festive mood in a bastion of sport.
There was hope as the bowlers excelled, momentum when players scored quickly, and pure joy when the win was achieved.
Extreme Ends: The Range of Test Matches
The MCG has form with difficult wickets. Previously, a game there featured a pitch with the excitement of a pulled Christmas cracker.
That contest was a marathon, with limited drama and slow play. The latest encounter and that slow Test are diametrically opposed points of the spectrum – neither perfect, yet value can be attached to both.
Four Tests into the current series, it is the shortest games that will live longest in the memory.
"It's not the demise of the format at all," commented a past champion. "Fans who have been privileged to see these 48 hours have been experienced some genuine drama. An unusual spectacle."
Baby Steps: Building for the Future
In the build-up to this Test, the captain spoke like a man carrying the heavy burden on his shoulders.
The players delivered for him, reinstating the joy to his persona.
Emerging talents stepped up with vital performances. These are small positives, hardly enough to guarantee long-term futures, but a foundation to use as a platform.
At the very least, this Melbourne victory takes its place among other notable performances in meaningless games.
As the crowd departed into a glorious Melbourne evening, the players assembled on the outfield to start their own enjoyment.
Celebrate the win, lads. It's well deserved.
