Displayed inside a display cabinet on the elevated floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground sits a neon pink ensemble donned by Robbie Williams. The performance in front of a hundred thousand fans was hailed as a triumph.
You might not like the performer. You might think he is the greatest gift to music the world has ever seen. Or you could adopt a middle ground, acknowledging that some tracks are excellent while others are awful.
The key argument is that amusement can be delivered diversely. Tastes vary. There is no one way to create literature or even the longest format.
The Unrivalled Depth of Test Cricket
Test cricket boasts unrivalled depth. It is hard to think of another sport where the playing is so reliant upon external factors.
The weather, the hour of play, the red ball – the factors are countless. Most important is the wicket.
If the long game is art, the wicket is the canvas on which the players create their art.
A Test of Cubism: The Fourth Test
The recent Melbourne match between the old rivals was an abstract version of cricket, the great game dismantled and reassembled in abstract form.
This is not a defence of the wicket which resulted in a win and the second two-day Test of the Ashes battle.
Leaving 10mm of grass on the surface, causing numerous dismissals tumbling in less than six sessions, is not a fair contest between bat and ball.
A Diverse Legacy: The Nature of Test Cricket
But any suggestion this was a inferior show, one that should be marked with an asterisk as inauthentic, is mistaken.
The long game is a varied portfolio, over two thousand matches and counting. At times, as seen at the MCG, the cricket ball behaves unpredictably for the pace bowlers. Other times, it grips and turns on a spinning track. At other venues, the pitch is dead, other times it spits like a cobra.
The thrillers are even more exciting because of the patience committed elsewhere.
Adjustment: The Real Challenge
Some factors are accepted more easily than others.
The contention in at the MCG was that the contest was skewed excessively towards the bowlers. That the best players were unable from playing their natural game.
Test cricket is about problem solving – assessing the conditions and adjusting appropriately. The top two individual scores were made by world-class players. One team committed more errors than the other, and thus ended up second best.
Unbridled Joy: The Supporters' View
Try telling the supporters who have experienced a long drought that this was not entertaining.
Among the crowd of the ground, countless fans celebrated and sang their songs, fostering a party atmosphere in a bastion of national pride.
There was hope as the attack surged, impetus when batters fought back, and rapturous celebration when the victory was confirmed.
Polar Opposites: The Spectrum of Test Matches
The Melbourne has a history with controversial surfaces. Eight years ago, a game there featured a strip with all the life of a a non-event.
That match was a slog, with minimal action and interminable tedium. The two-day game and that previous match are polar opposites of the spectrum – one is not more the standard, yet value can be ascribed to both.
At this stage into the current series, it is the quick finishes that will live longest in the collective consciousness.
"Far from being the death of the long game at all," commented a veteran. "Spectators who have been privileged to see these short time have been experienced some genuine drama. A unique show."
Small Victories: Building for the Future
In the build-up to this match, the skipper talked like a man carrying the weight of the world on his mind.
The team responded for him, bringing back the joy to his countenance.
Different players stepped up with key contributions. These are small positives, certainly not enough to guarantee long-term futures, but a starting point to develop from.
In the end, this Melbourne victory takes its place among other notable performances in dead rubbers.
As the fans left into a glorious Melbourne evening, the team congregated on the turf to commence their own festivities.
Celebrate the win, men. This victory was hard-fought.
