In a glass case on the elevated floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground sits a neon pink suit performed in by Robbie Williams. The concert in front of a hundred thousand spectators was seen as a success.
It's possible you appreciate Robbie Williams. Perhaps you believe he is the finest offering to music the world has ever seen. You might take a reasonable stance, conceding that some songs are fantastic while others are poor.
The central idea is that enjoyment can take many forms. You like what you like. There is not a single method to produce art or even Test cricket.
The Unrivalled Depth of The Test Format
The traditional format boasts peerless complexity. It is hard to think of another sport where the playing is so reliant upon external factors.
The weather, the session, the ball – the factors are countless. Most important is the playing surface.
If the long game is a form of art, the wicket is the foundation on which the cricketers craft their legacy.
An Abstract Contest: The MCG Match
The recent Melbourne match between Australia and England was an abstract version of cricket, the great game broken apart and reassembled in a bizarre shape.
Let's be clear, this isn't a endorsement of the surface which yielded a victory and the another short match of the Ashes battle.
Leaving 10mm of grass on the pitch, resulting in numerous dismissals falling in less than two days, is not a fair contest between offense and defense.
A Varied History: The Nature of Test Cricket
But any suggestion this was a lesser event, one that should be qualified as inauthentic, is mistaken.
Test cricket is a varied portfolio, over two thousand matches and ongoing. At times, as seen at the MCG, the cricket ball does all sorts for the seamers. Sometimes, it spins sharply on a dry surface. Sometimes, the pitch is flat as a pancake, other times it bounces unevenly.
The thrillers are all the more thrilling because of the patience committed in other matches.
Adaptation: The True Test
Certain variables are embraced more easily than others.
The debate in during the match was that the equilibrium was skewed excessively towards the bowlers. That the skilled individuals were unable from demonstrating their skill.
This level of cricket is about finding solutions – reading the conditions and responding accordingly. The top two individual contributions were made by acknowledged batters. One side committed more errors than the other, and thus lost.
Sheer Celebration: The Supporters' View
Go and inform the fans who have endured 18 winless matches that this was not entertaining.
In a corner of the MCG, countless fans made noise and sang their songs, fostering a festive mood in a bastion of national pride.
There was optimism as the attack surged, impetus when batters responded, and pure joy when the victory was secured.
Extreme Ends: The Spectrum of Test Matches
The Melbourne has previous experience with pitch problems. In the past, a Test there featured a pitch with the excitement of a pulled Christmas cracker.
That match was a marathon, with few wickets and interminable tedium. The two-day game and that slow Test are diametrically opposed points of the range – one is not more ideal, yet significance can be found in both.
Four Tests into the current series, it is the two-day matches that will be most remembered in the collective consciousness.
"Far from being the end of the long game at all," said a former player. "Spectators who have been privileged to see these short time have been given some fantastic sport. Different entertainment."
Signs of Progress: A Glimmer of Hope
In the lead-in to this match, the captain spoke like a man carrying the heavy burden on his shoulders.
The team protected him, reinstating the joy to his face.
New faces performed with vital performances. These are baby steps, hardly enough to secure long-term success, but something to develop from.
In the end, this MCG win takes its place among other memorable performances in dead rubbers.
As the supporters departed into a stunning sunset, the players congregated on the turf to commence their own celebrations.
Celebrate the win, men. You've earned this one.
