Displayed inside a showcase on the third floor of the MCG rests a vibrant pink suit performed in by Robbie Williams. His show in front of 100,024 spectators was considered a success.
Perhaps you don't appreciate Robbie Williams. Perhaps you believe he is the greatest gift to music the world has ever seen. Or you could adopt a balanced view, acknowledging that some tracks are excellent while others are awful.
The central idea is that entertainment can be delivered diversely. Tastes vary. There is not a single method to create music or even the longest format.
The Unrivalled Depth of Test Cricket
The traditional format boasts peerless complexity. It is hard to think of another sport where the playing is so dependent on external factors.
The weather, the time of day, the red ball – the factors are countless. Crucially is the wicket.
If the format is an artistic pursuit, the strip is the canvas on which the athletes paint their masterpiece.
An Abstract Contest: The Fourth Test
The recent Melbourne match between the two sides was the game deconstructed, the established format taken to pieces and reassembled in an unusual manner.
Let's be clear, this isn't a justification of the pitch which produced a victory and the another sub-three-day finish of the series.
Allowing excessive grass on the pitch, resulting in 36 wickets falling in less than six sessions, is not a fair contest between batter and bowler.
A Rich Tapestry: The Core of Test Cricket
But any idea this was a lesser event, one that should be footnoted as inauthentic, is incorrect.
The format is a diverse canvas, over two thousand matches and ongoing. At times, like in Melbourne, the ball does all sorts for the fast men. Other times, it turns square on a dust bowl. Sometimes, the pitch is flat as a pancake, other times it bounces unevenly.
The exciting finishes are all the more thrilling because of the investment made in other matches.
Adjustment: The True Test
Specific conditions are tolerated more freely than others.
The argument in Melbourne was that the equilibrium was skewed excessively towards the attack. That the skilled individuals were hindered from playing their natural game.
Test cricket is about adapting to challenges – assessing the wicket and adjusting appropriately. The two highest individual innings were made by world-class batters. One side committed more errors than the other, and thus ended up second best.
Pure Elation: The Supporters' View
Try telling the fans who have experienced 18 winless matches that this lacked spectacle.
In a corner of the MCG, thousands celebrated and sang their songs, producing a party atmosphere in a stronghold of national pride.
There was optimism as the attack excelled, momentum when the top order scored quickly, and pure joy when the victory was confirmed.
Extreme Ends: The Variety of Test Matches
The MCG has form with controversial surfaces. Previously, a game there featured a pitch with the character of a a damp squib.
That match was a grind, with minimal action and slow play. The two-day game and that drawn affair are polar opposites of the scale – both are not the standard, yet value can be attached to them.
Deep into the series into the ongoing battle, it is the quick finishes that will live longest in the history books.
"This isn't the demise of the format at all," observed a veteran. "Spectators who have been privileged to see these two days have been experienced some real entertainment. An unusual spectacle."
Signs of Progress: A Glimmer of Hope
In the build-up to this Test, the captain addressed the media like a man carrying the weight of the world on his mind.
The team protected him, restoring the smile to his persona.
New faces delivered with vital performances. These are incremental gains, not nearly enough to secure long-term futures, but something to use as a platform.
At the very least, this MCG win is added to other historic performances in dead rubbers.
As the crowd departed into a stunning sunset, the team gathered on the field to start their own festivities.
Enjoy the drink, lads. It's well deserved.
