Within a display cabinet on the upper level of the MCG sits a vibrant pink outfit donned by the entertainer. His concert in front of 100,024 attendees was considered a major hit.
Perhaps you don't like Robbie Williams. You might think he is the finest offering to music known to man. You might take a reasonable stance, conceding that some tracks are excellent while others are terrible.
The key argument is that entertainment can manifest in countless ways. Tastes vary. There is not a single method to craft literature or even five-day cricket.
The Unrivalled Depth of The Test Format
The five-day game boasts incomparable variety. It's difficult to think of another sport where the contest is so dictated by external factors.
The climate, the hour of play, the ball – the list is endless. Above all is the wicket.
If the format is art, the pitch is the foundation on which the players craft their legacy.
A Broken-Down Battle: The MCG Match
The recent Melbourne match between the two sides was Test cricket cubism, the great game dismantled and stuck back together in abstract form.
Let's be clear, this isn't a defence of the pitch which resulted in a win and the another sub-three-day finish of the series.
Allowing a thick layer on the surface, resulting in a cascade of wickets falling in less than a brief period, is not an even battle between batter and bowler.
A Varied History: The Essence of Test Cricket
But any suggestion this was a inferior show, one that should be marked with an asterisk as inauthentic, is mistaken.
Test cricket is a rich tapestry, 2,615 parts and counting. Sometimes, like in Melbourne, the ball moves excessively for the seamers. Other times, it grips and turns on a spinning track. Sometimes, the pitch is dead, other times it bounces unevenly.
The exciting finishes are all the more thrilling because of the patience committed in other matches.
Adaptation: The Real Challenge
Specific conditions are embraced more readily than others.
The debate in at the MCG was that the contest was skewed excessively towards the fielding side. That the skilled individuals were hindered from playing their natural game.
Test cricket is about adapting to challenges – reading the situation and adapting accordingly. The top two individual innings were made by recognized batters. One side committed more errors than the other, and thus ended up second best.
Pure Elation: The Fan Perspective
Attempt to convince the supporters who have endured years of defeat that this lacked spectacle.
Among the crowd of the ground, countless fans celebrated and created an atmosphere, producing a festive mood in a bastion of Australian cricket.
There was optimism as the attack excelled, impetus when batters scored quickly, and unconditional love when the victory was secured.
Contrasting Examples: The Spectrum of Test Matches
The venue has form with controversial surfaces. Eight years ago, a match there featured a strip with the excitement of a pulled Christmas cracker.
That match was a grind, with minimal action and slow play. The two-day game and that drawn affair are diametrically opposed points of the spectrum – one is not more perfect, yet significance can be found in both.
Deep into the series into the Ashes contest, it is the shortest games that will remain iconic in the history books.
"This isn't the death of Test cricket at all," observed a past champion. "Fans who have been lucky enough to see these two days have been given some fantastic sport. Different entertainment."
Baby Steps: A Glimmer of Hope
In the lead-in to this match, the leader talked like a man carrying the enormous pressure on his mind.
The players delivered for him, bringing back the joy to his face.
New faces performed with crucial roles. These are small positives, not nearly enough to guarantee long-term success, but something to develop from.
In the end, this MCG win is added to other historic performances in dead rubbers.
As the supporters departed into a glorious Melbourne evening, the team assembled on the field to commence their own enjoyment.
Enjoy the drink, men. It's well deserved.
