Within a display cabinet on the upper level of the Melbourne Cricket Ground sits a electric pink suit donned by Robbie Williams. The show in front of a hundred thousand fans was seen as a success.
You might not enjoy his music. Perhaps you believe he is the greatest gift to music known to man. You might take a balanced view, admitting that some tracks are excellent while others are terrible.
The central idea is that amusement can manifest in countless ways. You like what you like. There is not a single method to produce music or even five-day cricket.
The Unrivalled Depth of The Long Game
The five-day game boasts unrivalled depth. It's difficult to think of another sport where the contest is so dictated by the environment.
The elements, the hour of play, the red ball – the list is endless. Most important is the pitch.
If the long game is art, the pitch is the blank slate on which the cricketers craft their legacy.
A Test of Cubism: The Melbourne Spectacle
The Boxing Day fixture between the two sides was an abstract version of cricket, the great game taken to pieces and reconstructed in abstract form.
This is not a endorsement of the surface which yielded a victory and the second two-day Test of the series.
Leaving 10mm of grass on the wicket, causing a cascade of wickets being taken in less than six sessions, is not a fair contest between offense and defense.
A Varied History: The Essence of Test Cricket
But any suggestion this was a inferior show, one that should be qualified as illegitimate, is incorrect.
Test cricket is a varied portfolio, a long history and ongoing. On occasion, like in Melbourne, the ball behaves unpredictably for the pace bowlers. Other times, it grips and turns on a spinning track. Sometimes, the pitch is flat as a pancake, other times it spits like a cobra.
The exciting finishes are all the more thrilling owing to the investment devoted elsewhere.
Adjustment: The Core Skill
Some factors are tolerated more easily than others.
The argument in at the MCG was that the balance was weighted unfairly towards the bowlers. That the best players were prevented from demonstrating their skill.
The format is about problem solving – reading the wicket and adjusting effectively. The two highest individual contributions were made by recognized batters. One line-up committed more errors than the other, and thus ended up second best.
Sheer Celebration: The Fan Perspective
Try telling the supporters who have endured years of defeat that this wasn't compelling.
Among the crowd of the MCG, a sea of people waved their flags and sang their songs, generating a carnival vibe in a stronghold of Australian cricket.
There was belief as the attack excelled, advantage when players scored quickly, and rapturous celebration when the victory was secured.
Contrasting Examples: The Variety of Test Matches
The venue has a history with difficult wickets. Eight years ago, a match there featured a wicket with the character of a pulled Christmas cracker.
That fixture was a marathon, with minimal action and endless boredom. The latest encounter and that slow Test are diametrically opposed points of the spectrum – both are not the standard, yet value can be ascribed to both.
Four Tests into the ongoing battle, it is the two-day matches that will remain iconic in the memory.
"Far from being the demise of the format at all," commented a past champion. "The people who have been lucky enough to see these short time have been given some fantastic sport. A unique show."
Baby Steps: A Glimmer of Hope
In the preparation to this match, the captain talked like a man carrying the weight of the world on his mind.
The squad delivered for him, reinstating the smile to his face.
Emerging talents stepped up with vital performances. These are small positives, certainly not enough to secure long-term futures, but something to develop from.
In the end, this triumph takes its place among other notable performances in meaningless games.
As the crowd slipped away into a beautiful night, the squad gathered on the turf to begin their own festivities.
Enjoy the drink, men. It's well deserved.
