Within a display cabinet on the upper level of the Melbourne Cricket Ground is housed a electric pink outfit performed in by Robbie Williams. His show in front of a massive crowd of attendees was considered a major hit.
Perhaps you don't appreciate his music. You might think he is the ultimate present to music the world has ever seen. Or you could adopt a balanced view, admitting that some tracks are belting while others are terrible.
The key argument is that amusement can take many forms. You like what you like. There is not a single method to produce music or even the longest format.
The Unrivalled Depth of The Test Format
Test cricket boasts peerless complexity. It's difficult to think of another sport where the contest is so dictated by external factors.
The weather, the hour of play, the red ball – the factors are countless. Most important is the wicket.
If Test cricket is a form of art, the strip is the canvas on which the players paint their masterpiece.
An Abstract Contest: The Melbourne Spectacle
The Boxing Day fixture between Australia and England was the game deconstructed, the traditional sport taken to pieces and reassembled in a bizarre shape.
It must be stated this is not a justification of the pitch which yielded a win and the second two-day Test of the Ashes battle.
Allowing 10mm of grass on the wicket, causing a cascade of wickets falling in less than six sessions, is not an even battle between bat and ball.
A Varied History: The Core of Test Cricket
But any idea this was a lesser event, one that should be marked with an asterisk as inauthentic, is wide of the mark.
Test cricket is a diverse canvas, over two thousand matches and still growing. At times, like in Melbourne, the cricket ball moves excessively for the pace bowlers. Other times, it grips and turns on a dust bowl. Sometimes, the pitch is dead, other times it explodes.
The exciting finishes are even more exciting because of the time made during quieter periods.
Adaptation: The True Test
Some factors are tolerated more easily than others.
The argument in during the match was that the equilibrium was tipped too far towards the fielding side. That the top batters were prevented from demonstrating their skill.
This level of cricket is about problem solving – interpreting the conditions and responding appropriately. The two highest individual innings were made by world-class stars. One side was less disciplined than the other, and thus lost.
Pure Elation: The Fan Perspective
Attempt to convince the supporters who have endured a long drought that this lacked spectacle.
Among the crowd of the ground, thousands waved their flags and created an atmosphere, producing a festive mood in a bastion of Australian cricket.
There was belief as the bowlers surged, impetus when players scored quickly, and rapturous celebration when the win was confirmed.
Extreme Ends: The Variety of Test Matches
The Melbourne has form with difficult wickets. Previously, a game there featured a strip with the excitement of a a non-event.
That contest was a slog, with limited drama and endless boredom. The latest encounter and that slow Test are diametrically opposed points of the spectrum – neither perfect, yet value can be ascribed to them.
Deep into the series into the current series, it is the two-day matches that will be most remembered in the collective consciousness.
"This isn't the demise of the long game at all," commented a former player. "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 Test, the captain talked like a man carrying the enormous pressure on his back.
The players responded for him, reinstating the positive demeanor to his persona.
Emerging talents delivered with vital performances. These are baby steps, not nearly enough to secure long-term futures, but a starting point to build on.
In the end, this Melbourne victory is added to other historic performances in dead rubbers.
As the fans departed into a glorious Melbourne evening, the players congregated on the outfield to commence their own enjoyment.
Savour the moment, men. It's well deserved.
