Within a display cabinet on the upper level of the Melbourne Cricket Ground sits a neon pink outfit worn by the entertainer. His performance in front of a hundred thousand fans was hailed as a major hit.
It's possible you enjoy Robbie Williams. Perhaps you believe he is the finest offering to music known to man. Or you could adopt a balanced view, conceding that some songs are belting while others are terrible.
The point being is that entertainment can take many forms. Tastes vary. There is not a single method to craft literature or even five-day cricket.
The Incomparable Variety of The Long Game
The traditional format boasts incomparable variety. One struggles to think of another sport where the outcome is so dependent on conditions.
The elements, the hour of play, the ball – the factors are countless. Crucially is the pitch.
If the format is art, the strip is the foundation on which the players craft their legacy.
An Abstract Contest: The Fourth Test
The fourth Ashes Test between Australia and England was an abstract version of cricket, the traditional sport broken apart and reassembled in a bizarre shape.
This is not a endorsement of the pitch which produced a win and the second two-day Test of the Ashes battle.
Leaving excessive grass on the wicket, causing 36 wickets falling in less than two days, is not a fair contest between bat and ball.
A Varied History: The Core of Test Cricket
But any suggestion this was a lesser event, one that should be footnoted as illegitimate, is wide of the mark.
Test cricket is a diverse canvas, over two thousand matches and still growing. Sometimes, like in Melbourne, the cricket ball behaves unpredictably for the pace bowlers. In contrast, it turns square on a spinning track. At other venues, the pitch is dead, other times it bounces unevenly.
The thrillers are all the more thrilling owing to the investment made in other matches.
Adjustment: The True Test
Specific conditions are embraced more easily than others.
The debate in during the match was that the balance was weighted unfairly towards the bowlers. That the top batters were hindered from demonstrating their skill.
This level of cricket is about problem solving – interpreting the wicket and adapting appropriately. The two highest individual scores were made by acknowledged players. One line-up made more mistakes than the other, and thus ended up second best.
Unbridled Joy: For Those Who Waited
Attempt to convince the devotees who have suffered 18 winless matches that this wasn't compelling.
In one section of the ground, countless fans waved their flags and sang their songs, producing a festive mood in a stronghold of Australian cricket.
There was belief as the bowlers excelled, advantage when players scored quickly, and unconditional love when the result was secured.
Polar Opposites: The Range of Test Matches
The Melbourne has a history with controversial surfaces. Eight years ago, a match there featured a pitch with the excitement of a a non-event.
That fixture was a marathon, with minimal action and endless boredom. The two-day game and that previous match are extreme ends of the spectrum – one is not more perfect, yet significance can be found in both.
Deep into the series into the current series, it is the shortest games that will live longest in the history books.
"This isn't the end of Test cricket at all," observed a former player. "The people who have been lucky enough to see these two days have been treated to some fantastic sport. Different entertainment."
Baby Steps: Building for the Future
In the build-up to this Test, the leader talked like a man carrying the heavy burden on his back.
The squad protected him, restoring the joy to his face.
Different players stepped up with key contributions. These are small positives, hardly enough to ensure long-term success, but a starting point to develop from.
At the very least, this MCG win is added to other memorable performances in dead rubbers.
As the supporters slipped away into a glorious Melbourne evening, the players gathered on the turf to commence their own celebrations.
Celebrate the win, lads. You've earned this one.
