Within a showcase on the third floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground is housed a electric pink suit performed in by Robbie Williams. The performance in front of a hundred thousand fans was hailed as a triumph.
It's possible you like his music. Maybe you feel he is the ultimate present to music known to man. You might take a middle ground, admitting that some hits are fantastic while others are terrible.
The central idea is that entertainment can manifest in countless ways. You like what you like. There is no universal formula to produce art or even Test cricket.
The Incomparable Variety of Test Cricket
The traditional format boasts peerless complexity. One struggles to think of another sport where the outcome is so dictated by external factors.
The weather, the hour of play, the ball – the factors are countless. Crucially is the playing surface.
If Test cricket is art, the pitch is the foundation on which the players paint their masterpiece.
An Abstract Contest: The MCG Match
The Boxing Day fixture between Australia and England was the game deconstructed, the traditional sport broken apart and reconstructed in an unusual manner.
This is not a defence of the pitch which yielded a win and the another short match of the Ashes battle.
Allowing a thick layer on the wicket, leading to numerous dismissals tumbling in less than a brief period, is not a balanced duel between batter and bowler.
A Rich Tapestry: The Nature of Test Cricket
But any suggestion this was a diminished spectacle, one that should be footnoted as not a proper Test, is wide of the mark.
Test cricket is a rich tapestry, 2,615 parts and ongoing. At times, as witnessed recently, the cricket ball moves excessively for the pace bowlers. Sometimes, it grips and turns on a dry surface. Sometimes, the pitch is unresponsive, other times it spits like a cobra.
The exciting finishes are all the more thrilling due to the investment made during quieter periods.
Problem Solving: The Real Challenge
Specific conditions are tolerated more freely than others.
The debate in Melbourne was that the balance was weighted unfairly towards the bowlers. That the top batters were unable from playing their natural game.
The format is about adapting to challenges – interpreting the situation and adjusting appropriately. The top two individual scores were made by acknowledged batters. One line-up was less disciplined than the other, and thus lost.
Unbridled Joy: The Supporters' View
Try telling the supporters who have suffered 18 winless matches that this was not entertaining.
In a corner of the ground, thousands celebrated and sang their songs, producing a carnival vibe in a stronghold of national pride.
There was belief as the bowlers dominated, advantage when players responded, and rapturous celebration when the win was secured.
Polar Opposites: The Spectrum of Test Matches
The MCG has previous experience with pitch problems. In the past, a match there featured a strip with the excitement of a pulled Christmas cracker.
That fixture was a marathon, with limited drama and slow play. The two-day game and that previous match are polar opposites of the range – both are not the standard, yet value can be found in each.
Deep into the series into the ongoing battle, it is the two-day matches that will be most remembered in the memory.
"Far from being the end of Test cricket at all," observed a past champion. "Fans who have been privileged to see these short time have been experienced some fantastic sport. An unusual spectacle."
Baby Steps: A Glimmer of Hope
In the preparation to this match, the leader addressed the media like a man carrying the weight of the world on his back.
The team protected him, reinstating the joy to his countenance.
Emerging talents performed with key contributions. These are incremental gains, not nearly enough to ensure long-term futures, but a starting point to use as a platform.
Ultimately, this MCG win is added to other notable performances in meaningless games.
As the fans left into a glorious Melbourne evening, the players assembled on the turf to begin their own enjoyment.
Enjoy the drink, lads. It's well deserved.
