Within a display cabinet on the elevated floor of the MCG is housed a vibrant pink ensemble performed in by Robbie Williams. The concert in front of a massive crowd of fans was hailed as a major hit.
It's possible you like his music. Maybe you feel he is the ultimate present to music known to man. Or you could adopt a reasonable stance, admitting that some songs are excellent while others are poor.
The central idea is that amusement can manifest in countless ways. Tastes vary. There is not a single method to create art or even the longest format.
The Incomparable Variety of The Test Format
Test cricket boasts unrivalled depth. One struggles to think of another sport where the outcome is so reliant upon the environment.
The weather, the session, the ball – the factors are countless. Crucially is the playing surface.
If the format is a form of art, the wicket is the canvas on which the cricketers craft their legacy.
A Broken-Down Battle: The Melbourne Spectacle
The Boxing Day fixture between the old rivals was Test cricket cubism, the great game dismantled and reassembled in an unusual manner.
Let's be clear, this isn't a endorsement of the pitch which yielded a win and the another sub-three-day finish of the contest.
Leaving excessive grass on the surface, causing 36 wickets falling in less than six sessions, is not an even battle between bat and ball.
A Rich Tapestry: The Core of Test Cricket
But any notion this was a diminished spectacle, one that should be qualified as illegitimate, is mistaken.
The format is a diverse canvas, 2,615 parts and still growing. On occasion, like in Melbourne, the cricket ball moves excessively for the pace bowlers. Sometimes, it turns square on a dust bowl. At other venues, the pitch is dead, other times it bounces unevenly.
The close matches are even more exciting because of the patience made elsewhere.
Adaptation: The Real Challenge
Certain variables are accepted more easily than others.
The contention in during the match was that the balance was skewed excessively towards the attack. That the best players were hindered from playing their natural game.
This level of cricket is about finding solutions – interpreting the wicket and adapting accordingly. The top two individual scores were made by world-class batters. One team was less disciplined than the other, and thus were defeated.
Sheer Celebration: For Those Who Waited
Try telling the devotees who have experienced a long drought that this was not entertaining.
In a corner of the stadium, countless fans celebrated and created an atmosphere, generating a festive mood in a heartland of national pride.
There was hope as the attack surged, advantage when the top order scored quickly, and rapturous celebration when the result was achieved.
Contrasting Examples: The Range of Test Matches
The MCG has a history with difficult wickets. Eight years ago, a game there featured a strip with the character of a pulled Christmas cracker.
That contest was a grind, with few wickets and interminable tedium. This recent match and that drawn affair are polar opposites of the range – neither the standard, yet significance can be attached to both.
Four Tests into the current series, it is the shortest games that will remain iconic in the history books.
"This isn't the death of Test cricket at all," commented a former player. "The people who have been lucky enough to see these two days have been experienced some real entertainment. A unique show."
Signs of Progress: Looking Ahead
In the lead-in to this match, the captain talked like a man carrying the enormous pressure on his shoulders.
The team delivered for him, reinstating the smile to his persona.
Different players performed with key contributions. These are small positives, hardly enough to secure long-term futures, but a foundation to develop from.
At the very least, this MCG win is added to other historic performances in dead rubbers.
As the crowd departed into a glorious Melbourne evening, the players congregated on the outfield to begin their own celebrations.
Celebrate the win, lads. It's well deserved.
