In a display cabinet on the upper level of the iconic Melbourne stadium sits a electric pink outfit donned by Robbie Williams. The concert in front of 100,024 spectators was seen as a success.
You might not appreciate the performer. Perhaps you believe he is the finest offering to music known to man. Alternatively, you may hold a balanced view, acknowledging that some hits are excellent while others are awful.
The central idea is that entertainment can take many forms. You like what you like. There is no universal formula to produce music or even the longest format.
The Incomparable Variety of The Test Format
The traditional format boasts peerless complexity. It is hard to think of another sport where the playing is so dependent on external factors.
The elements, the time of day, the red ball – the factors are countless. Most important is the pitch.
If Test cricket is an artistic pursuit, the pitch is the canvas on which the cricketers paint their masterpiece.
A Broken-Down Battle: The Melbourne Spectacle
The recent Melbourne match between Australia and England was the game deconstructed, the established format dismantled and reconstructed in an unusual manner.
Let's be clear, this isn't a justification of the wicket which produced a victory and the second two-day Test of the Ashes battle.
Leaving 10mm of grass on the pitch, leading to a cascade of wickets tumbling in less than six sessions, is not a fair contest between batter and bowler.
A Rich Tapestry: The Core of Test Cricket
But any idea this was a lesser event, one that should be qualified as not a proper Test, is mistaken.
The long game is a varied portfolio, 2,615 parts and still growing. Sometimes, like in Melbourne, the cricket ball behaves unpredictably for the seamers. In contrast, it grips and turns on a dry surface. Sometimes, the pitch is unresponsive, other times it spits like a cobra.
The exciting finishes are all the more thrilling due to the investment made in other matches.
Adaptation: The True Test
Some factors are tolerated more freely than others.
The contention in during the match was that the contest was tipped too far towards the attack. That the skilled individuals were unable from demonstrating their skill.
This level of cricket is about finding solutions – assessing the situation and adjusting accordingly. The best individual contributions were made by acknowledged players. One team made more mistakes than the other, and thus were defeated.
Unbridled Joy: The Fan Perspective
Attempt to convince the fans who have experienced 18 winless matches that this wasn't compelling.
Among the crowd of the stadium, countless fans made noise and chanted, generating a party atmosphere in a bastion of Australian cricket.
There was belief as the fielding side dominated, impetus when players scored quickly, and rapturous celebration when the win was secured.
Polar Opposites: The Variety of Test Matches
The Melbourne has previous experience with difficult wickets. Previously, a Test there featured a strip with all the life of a a non-event.
That match was a grind, with limited drama and endless boredom. This recent match and that drawn affair are diametrically opposed points of the scale – both are not the standard, yet significance can be ascribed to them.
Deep into the series into the Ashes contest, it is the quick finishes that will remain iconic in the collective consciousness.
"It's not the death of the long game at all," observed a past champion. "Spectators who have been fortunate to see these short time have been experienced some genuine drama. An unusual spectacle."
Baby Steps: Looking Ahead
In the lead-in to this match, the skipper addressed the media like a man carrying the enormous pressure on his back.
The team protected him, reinstating the joy to his face.
New faces performed with key contributions. These are incremental gains, certainly not enough to ensure long-term futures, but a foundation to build on.
In the end, this MCG win takes its place among other memorable performances in dead rubbers.
As the supporters slipped away into a glorious Melbourne evening, the players assembled on the outfield to commence their own festivities.
Enjoy the drink, lads. This victory was hard-fought.
