Displayed inside a glass case on the third floor of the iconic Melbourne stadium rests a electric pink ensemble worn by Robbie Williams. The performance in front of a hundred thousand fans was seen as a major hit.
You might not enjoy the performer. You might think he is the ultimate present to music in history. You might take a reasonable stance, admitting that some hits are excellent while others are poor.
The point being is that entertainment can be delivered diversely. You like what you like. There is not a single method to produce art or even five-day cricket.
The Incomparable Variety of Test Cricket
Test cricket boasts incomparable variety. One struggles to think of another sport where the contest is so dictated by external factors.
The climate, the hour of play, the cricket ball – the variables are numerous. Above all is the wicket.
If Test cricket is art, the pitch is the blank slate on which the athletes craft their legacy.
A Test of Cubism: The MCG Match
The Boxing Day fixture between Australia and England was the game deconstructed, the traditional sport taken to pieces and reassembled in a bizarre shape.
This is not a endorsement of the pitch which produced a triumph and the another sub-three-day finish of the contest.
Leaving a thick layer on the wicket, causing 36 wickets falling in less than two days, is not an even battle between batter and bowler.
A Rich Tapestry: The Nature of Test Cricket
But any notion this was a lesser event, one that should be footnoted as inauthentic, is wide of the mark.
Test cricket is a varied portfolio, 2,615 parts and still growing. At times, like in Melbourne, the cricket ball behaves unpredictably for the fast men. Other times, it turns square on a dust bowl. Sometimes, the pitch is dead, other times it spits like a cobra.
The exciting finishes are particularly captivating owing to the investment devoted during quieter periods.
Problem Solving: The Core Skill
Some factors are embraced more freely than others.
The argument in during the match was that the contest was weighted unfairly towards the fielding side. That the best players were prevented from playing their natural game.
The format is about problem solving – reading the conditions and adapting accordingly. The top two individual innings were made by world-class batters. One line-up made more mistakes than the other, and thus lost.
Sheer Celebration: The Fan Perspective
Go and inform the fans who have endured a long drought that this was not entertaining.
In one section of the stadium, countless fans made noise and chanted, generating a carnival vibe in a heartland of sport.
There was hope as the fielding side surged, impetus when players scored quickly, and rapturous celebration when the win was achieved.
Extreme Ends: The Variety of Test Matches
The Melbourne has form with pitch problems. Previously, a Test there featured a wicket with all the life of a a non-event.
That contest was a marathon, with limited drama and slow play. The two-day game and that drawn affair are polar opposites of the scale – both are not perfect, yet historical weight can be attached to them.
Four Tests into the ongoing battle, it is the two-day matches that will live longest in the collective consciousness.
"Far from being the death of the long game at all," commented a former player. "Spectators who have been lucky enough to see these two days have been treated to some real entertainment. An unusual spectacle."
Signs of Progress: Looking Ahead
In the preparation to this Test, the leader talked like a man carrying the heavy burden on his back.
The players protected him, bringing back the positive demeanor to his countenance.
Different players delivered with vital performances. These are small positives, certainly not enough to guarantee long-term success, but a foundation to develop from.
In the end, this Melbourne victory takes its place among other historic performances in meaningless games.
As the supporters departed into a glorious Melbourne evening, the players congregated on the outfield to start their own celebrations.
Celebrate the win, men. You've earned this one.
