Displayed inside a display cabinet on the elevated floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground sits a vibrant pink outfit performed in by the pop star. The show in front of a massive crowd of spectators was considered a major hit.
You might not like Robbie Williams. Maybe you feel he is the finest offering to music in history. You might take a middle ground, acknowledging that some songs are fantastic while others are terrible.
The point being is that entertainment can be delivered diversely. You like what you like. There is no universal formula to produce art or even the longest format.
The Unrivalled Depth of The Test Format
Test cricket boasts incomparable variety. It's difficult to think of another sport where the contest is so dependent on external factors.
The elements, the session, the red ball – the factors are countless. Most important is the pitch.
If the format is art, the pitch is the blank slate on which the cricketers paint their masterpiece.
A Test of Cubism: The MCG Match
The Boxing Day fixture between the two sides was Test cricket cubism, the great game broken apart and reconstructed in abstract form.
This is not a endorsement of the surface which yielded a win and the another short match of the series.
Allowing excessive grass on the wicket, causing 36 wickets being taken in less than six sessions, is not a balanced duel between batter and bowler.
A Rich Tapestry: The Essence of Test Cricket
But any notion this was a diminished spectacle, one that should be footnoted as not a proper Test, is incorrect.
Test cricket is a diverse canvas, over two thousand matches and ongoing. Sometimes, like in Melbourne, the ball does all sorts for the fast men. Sometimes, it grips and turns on a dust bowl. At other venues, the pitch is unresponsive, other times it spits like a cobra.
The thrillers are even more exciting owing to the time made in other matches.
Adjustment: The Real Challenge
Some factors are accepted more freely than others.
The contention in during the match was that the equilibrium was tipped too far towards the fielding side. That the best players were prevented from playing their natural game.
This level of cricket is about adapting to challenges – interpreting the wicket and responding accordingly. The top two individual scores were made by world-class batters. One line-up committed more errors than the other, and thus were defeated.
Pure Elation: The Supporters' View
Go and inform the fans who have suffered a long drought that this lacked spectacle.
Among the crowd of the stadium, thousands made noise and chanted, generating a carnival vibe in a stronghold of national pride.
There was hope as the fielding side dominated, momentum when players responded, and pure joy when the victory was confirmed.
Polar Opposites: The Range of Test Matches
The MCG has previous experience with controversial surfaces. Eight years ago, a game there featured a pitch with the character of a a damp squib.
That match was a marathon, with minimal action and slow play. This recent match and that previous match are diametrically opposed points of the spectrum – both are not the standard, yet significance can be ascribed to them.
Deep into the series into the ongoing battle, it is the shortest games that will be most remembered in the memory.
"It's not the death of Test cricket at all," said a veteran. "Spectators who have been lucky enough to see these short time have been treated to some genuine drama. A unique show."
Baby Steps: Building for the Future
In the build-up to this Test, the skipper talked like a man carrying the enormous pressure on his mind.
The team responded for him, reinstating the smile to his countenance.
New faces stepped up with key contributions. These are small positives, not nearly enough to secure long-term stability, but a starting point to develop from.
In the end, this MCG win joins other historic performances in similar circumstances.
As the supporters left into a stunning sunset, the players assembled on the turf to start their own celebrations.
Celebrate the win, men. You've earned this one.
