Within a display cabinet on the elevated floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground rests a electric pink ensemble performed in by the pop star. His performance in front of 100,024 spectators was hailed as a success.
It's possible you like Robbie Williams. Maybe you feel he is the finest offering to music known to man. Alternatively, you may hold a balanced view, acknowledging that some tracks are belting while others are poor.
The key argument is that entertainment can manifest in countless ways. You like what you like. There is not a single method to create art or even five-day cricket.
The Unrivalled Depth of Test Cricket
Test cricket boasts incomparable variety. It's difficult to think of another sport where the contest is so dictated by conditions.
The weather, the hour of play, the ball – the factors are countless. Crucially is the wicket.
If the long game is a form of art, the pitch is the canvas on which the athletes create their art.
A Broken-Down Battle: The Fourth Test
The Boxing Day fixture between Australia and England was Test cricket cubism, the traditional sport broken apart and reassembled in an unusual manner.
It must be stated this is not a defence of the surface which produced a win and the another short match of the series.
Allowing a thick layer on the surface, resulting in a cascade of wickets tumbling in less than two days, is not a balanced duel between batter and bowler.
A Varied History: The Essence of Test Cricket
But any notion this was a diminished spectacle, one that should be qualified as not a proper Test, is wide of the mark.
Test cricket is a rich tapestry, over two thousand matches and ongoing. Sometimes, as witnessed recently, the ball does all sorts for the pace bowlers. Sometimes, it spins sharply on a spinning track. At other venues, the pitch is flat as a pancake, other times it spits like a cobra.
The exciting finishes are all the more thrilling due to the investment committed in other matches.
Adjustment: The Real Challenge
Specific conditions are accepted more readily than others.
The debate in Melbourne was that the equilibrium was skewed excessively towards the attack. That the skilled individuals were unable from demonstrating their skill.
This level of cricket is about adapting to challenges – assessing the wicket and adapting effectively. The two highest individual contributions were made by world-class stars. One team made more mistakes than the other, and thus lost.
Unbridled Joy: For Those Who Waited
Attempt to convince the devotees who have endured a long drought that this was not entertaining.
Among the crowd of the ground, a sea of people made noise and created an atmosphere, generating a festive mood in a bastion of Australian cricket.
There was hope as the fielding side dominated, advantage when players fought back, and pure joy when the result was secured.
Extreme Ends: The Variety of Test Matches
The MCG has previous experience with controversial surfaces. Previously, a match there featured a wicket with all the life of a a damp squib.
That fixture was a slog, with limited drama and endless boredom. This recent match and that drawn affair are polar opposites of the spectrum – one is not more ideal, yet significance can be ascribed to each.
Four Tests into the ongoing battle, it is the two-day matches that will live longest in the memory.
"Far from being the death of Test cricket at all," commented a former player. "Fans who have been fortunate to see these short time have been treated to some fantastic sport. An unusual spectacle."
Baby Steps: A Glimmer of Hope
In the preparation to this Test, the leader talked like a man carrying the enormous pressure on his back.
The team protected him, bringing back the joy to his face.
New faces delivered with crucial roles. These are baby steps, certainly not enough to ensure long-term stability, but a starting point to use as a platform.
In the end, this triumph joins other memorable performances in dead rubbers.
As the fans slipped away into a beautiful night, the team assembled on the outfield to begin their own enjoyment.
Savour the moment, lads. It's well deserved.
