Displayed inside a glass case on the elevated floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground is housed a electric pink outfit worn by Robbie Williams. The concert in front of 100,024 attendees was hailed as a triumph.
Perhaps you don't enjoy his music. Perhaps you believe he is the greatest gift to music known to man. Or you could adopt a reasonable stance, conceding that some songs are belting while others are terrible.
The point being is that enjoyment 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 The Long Game
Test cricket boasts unrivalled depth. It is hard to think of another sport where the contest is so reliant upon the environment.
The elements, the session, the red ball – the factors are countless. Crucially is the pitch.
If Test cricket is an artistic pursuit, the strip is the foundation on which the players craft their legacy.
A Broken-Down Battle: The Fourth Test
The Boxing Day fixture between the old rivals was an abstract version of cricket, the traditional sport broken apart and reconstructed in abstract form.
This is not a justification of the pitch which resulted in a triumph and the second two-day Test of the contest.
Allowing a thick layer on the wicket, resulting in a cascade of wickets falling in less than two days, is not a fair contest between bat and ball.
A Varied History: The Core of Test Cricket
But any notion this was a lesser event, one that should be qualified as inauthentic, is incorrect.
The long game is a varied portfolio, a long history and still growing. At times, like in Melbourne, the ball moves excessively for the fast men. Sometimes, it grips and turns on a dust bowl. At other venues, the pitch is dead, other times it bounces unevenly.
The close matches are even more exciting due to the investment devoted elsewhere.
Adjustment: The Real Challenge
Some factors are accepted more freely than others.
The argument in Melbourne was that the contest was tipped too far towards the bowlers. That the top batters were unable from demonstrating their skill.
This level of cricket is about problem solving – reading the wicket and adjusting effectively. The top two individual scores were made by world-class stars. One side committed more errors than the other, and thus ended up second best.
Unbridled Joy: The Fan Perspective
Go and inform the supporters who have suffered 18 winless matches that this wasn't compelling.
In a corner of the ground, thousands celebrated and chanted, fostering a party atmosphere in a heartland of sport.
There was belief as the fielding side excelled, momentum when batters responded, and pure joy when the result was achieved.
Extreme Ends: The Spectrum of Test Matches
The MCG has a history with pitch problems. Previously, a game there featured a pitch with the excitement of a a non-event.
That contest was a slog, with minimal action and slow play. The latest encounter and that drawn affair are polar opposites of the spectrum – both are not perfect, yet significance can be found in both.
Four Tests into the current series, it is the two-day matches that will be most remembered in the history books.
"This isn't the end of the long game 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 addressed the media like a man carrying the heavy burden on his back.
The squad delivered for him, bringing back the positive demeanor to his countenance.
Emerging talents delivered with vital performances. These are incremental gains, certainly not enough to secure long-term futures, but a starting point to use as a platform.
In the end, this triumph takes its place among other historic performances in similar circumstances.
As the crowd slipped away into a beautiful night, the squad assembled on the turf to start their own festivities.
Savour the moment, men. It's well deserved.
