Within a glass case on the third floor of the iconic Melbourne stadium rests a electric pink ensemble performed in by Robbie Williams. His show in front of 100,024 spectators was hailed as a major hit.
You might not like the performer. Perhaps you believe he is the ultimate present to music known to man. Alternatively, you may hold a middle ground, admitting that some hits are excellent while others are poor.
The key argument is that amusement can take many forms. You like what you like. There is no universal formula to produce literature or even the longest format.
The Peerless Spectrum of The Test Format
The five-day game boasts peerless complexity. It's difficult to think of another sport where the contest is so reliant upon external factors.
The climate, the hour of play, the red ball – the list is endless. Most important is the pitch.
If Test cricket is art, the pitch is the canvas on which the cricketers paint their masterpiece.
An Abstract Contest: The MCG Match
The Boxing Day fixture between the old rivals was Test cricket cubism, the great game broken apart and stuck back together in abstract form.
It must be stated this is not a justification of the surface which resulted in a win and the another short match of the contest.
Having excessive grass on the surface, leading to numerous dismissals being taken in less than two days, is not a balanced duel between offense and defense.
A Rich Tapestry: The Nature of Test Cricket
But any idea this was a lesser event, one that should be marked with an asterisk as illegitimate, is mistaken.
Test cricket is a rich tapestry, 2,615 parts and ongoing. Sometimes, as witnessed recently, the ball does all sorts for the seamers. Other times, it spins sharply on a dry surface. At other venues, the pitch is flat as a pancake, other times it bounces unevenly.
The exciting finishes are all the more thrilling due to the patience made during quieter periods.
Adjustment: The True Test
Certain variables are accepted more freely than others.
The debate in at the MCG was that the contest was weighted unfairly towards the attack. That the top batters were hindered from playing their natural game.
Test cricket is about finding solutions – reading the wicket and adjusting appropriately. The top two individual innings were made by recognized players. One side committed more errors than the other, and thus were defeated.
Pure Elation: For Those Who Waited
Attempt to convince the devotees who have experienced 18 winless matches that this lacked spectacle.
Among the crowd of the MCG, countless fans made noise and sang their songs, generating a carnival vibe in a bastion of Australian cricket.
There was optimism as the attack excelled, impetus when players responded, and rapturous celebration when the win was achieved.
Polar Opposites: The Variety of Test Matches
The Melbourne has form with difficult wickets. Previously, a match there featured a pitch with the excitement of a pulled Christmas cracker.
That fixture was a slog, with limited drama and endless boredom. This recent match and that previous match are extreme ends of the range – one is not more the standard, yet significance can be attached to them.
Four Tests into the current series, it is the two-day matches that will remain iconic in the memory.
"Far from being the death of Test cricket at all," commented a past champion. "Spectators who have been fortunate to see these two days have been treated to some real entertainment. Different entertainment."
Baby Steps: Looking Ahead
In the lead-in to this match, the skipper talked like a man carrying the enormous pressure on his mind.
The players responded for him, bringing back the smile to his face.
Emerging talents delivered with key contributions. These are small positives, hardly enough to ensure long-term success, but something to use as a platform.
At the very least, this MCG win takes its place among other historic performances in meaningless games.
As the fans slipped away into a beautiful night, the players gathered on the turf to start their own festivities.
Celebrate the win, men. It's well deserved.
