Within a glass case on the upper level of the MCG sits a neon pink outfit donned by Robbie Williams. His show in front of a massive crowd of attendees was seen as a success.
It's possible you like Robbie Williams. Maybe you feel he is the finest offering to music known to man. Alternatively, you may hold a balanced view, admitting that some tracks are belting while others are poor.
The key argument is that entertainment can manifest in countless ways. You like what you like. There is no universal formula to craft literature or even Test cricket.
The Unrivalled Depth of Test Cricket
The five-day game boasts peerless complexity. It's difficult to think of another sport where the contest is so reliant upon the environment.
The climate, the hour of play, the ball – the factors are countless. Most important is the pitch.
If the long game is art, the strip is the blank slate on which the athletes paint their masterpiece.
An Abstract Contest: The Fourth Test
The Boxing Day fixture between Australia and England was an abstract version of cricket, the established format dismantled and stuck back together in abstract form.
This is not a defence of the wicket which resulted in a victory and the another sub-three-day finish of the Ashes battle.
Leaving a thick layer on the wicket, causing a cascade of 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 inferior show, one that should be footnoted as illegitimate, is mistaken.
The long game is a varied portfolio, a long history and ongoing. On occasion, as seen at the MCG, the ball moves excessively for the fast men. Sometimes, it turns square on a dry surface. At other venues, the pitch is dead, other times it spits like a cobra.
The close matches are even more exciting because of the investment devoted in other matches.
Problem Solving: The Core Skill
Some factors are tolerated more readily than others.
The debate in at the MCG was that the equilibrium was skewed excessively towards the bowlers. That the top batters were hindered from demonstrating their skill.
This level of cricket is about finding solutions – assessing the wicket and responding appropriately. The best individual innings were made by world-class batters. One side committed more errors than the other, and thus lost.
Pure Elation: The Fan Perspective
Attempt to convince the supporters who have endured years of defeat that this was not entertaining.
Among the crowd of the ground, thousands waved their flags and chanted, producing a party atmosphere in a stronghold of sport.
There was optimism as the bowlers surged, advantage when players responded, and pure joy when the win was secured.
Extreme Ends: The Spectrum of Test Matches
The venue has form with difficult wickets. Previously, a match there featured a wicket with all the life of a a damp squib.
That contest was a marathon, with few wickets and slow play. The two-day game and that slow Test are extreme ends of the spectrum – one is not more 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 history books.
"It's not the death of the format at all," said a veteran. "Fans who have been lucky enough to see these short time have been experienced some fantastic sport. A unique show."
Small Victories: Looking Ahead
In the lead-in to this match, the leader talked like a man carrying the heavy burden on his shoulders.
The squad protected him, restoring the smile to his persona.
New faces stepped up with key contributions. These are incremental gains, hardly enough to guarantee long-term futures, but a foundation to build on.
At the very least, this Melbourne victory is added to other memorable performances in dead rubbers.
As the crowd departed into a glorious Melbourne evening, the team assembled on the outfield to begin their own festivities.
Savour the moment, boys. It's well deserved.
