Displayed inside a glass case on the third floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground rests a electric pink ensemble performed in by Robbie Williams. The show in front of 100,024 attendees was considered a major hit.
It's possible you like Robbie Williams. Maybe you feel he is the ultimate present to music known to man. Or you could adopt a balanced view, conceding that some hits are excellent while others are poor.
The key argument is that amusement can take many forms. Preferences differ. There is no one way to create art 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 playing is so dictated by external factors.
The elements, the time of day, the red ball – the variables are numerous. Crucially is the playing surface.
If Test cricket is art, the pitch is the foundation on which the athletes paint their masterpiece.
An Abstract Contest: The Fourth Test
The recent Melbourne match between Australia and England was Test cricket cubism, the great game broken apart and reconstructed in abstract form.
Let's be clear, this isn't a endorsement of the wicket which resulted in a win and the another short match of the contest.
Leaving 10mm of grass on the wicket, leading to numerous dismissals being taken in less than six sessions, is not an even battle between batter and bowler.
A Varied History: The Essence of Test Cricket
But any suggestion this was a diminished spectacle, one that should be qualified as not a proper Test, is mistaken.
The format is a varied portfolio, 2,615 parts and ongoing. Sometimes, like in Melbourne, the cricket ball behaves unpredictably for the seamers. In contrast, it spins sharply on a dust bowl. Sometimes, the pitch is flat as a pancake, other times it bounces unevenly.
The exciting finishes are all the more thrilling because of the time devoted in other matches.
Adaptation: The Core Skill
Some factors are embraced more easily than others.
The argument in at the MCG was that the balance was weighted unfairly towards the attack. That the top batters were prevented from demonstrating their skill.
The format is about finding solutions – reading the conditions and adjusting appropriately. The two highest individual scores were made by recognized stars. One side made more mistakes than the other, and thus lost.
Unbridled Joy: For Those Who Waited
Attempt to convince the supporters who have suffered years of defeat that this lacked spectacle.
In one section of the ground, a sea of people waved their flags and created an atmosphere, generating a party atmosphere in a heartland of national pride.
There was hope as the bowlers dominated, advantage when the top order scored quickly, and pure joy when the win was achieved.
Polar Opposites: The Spectrum of Test Matches
The Melbourne has form with controversial surfaces. Eight years ago, a game there featured a strip with all the life of a a damp squib.
That fixture was a marathon, with limited drama and interminable tedium. The two-day game and that drawn affair are extreme ends of the range – one is not more perfect, yet value can be ascribed to each.
Four Tests into the Ashes contest, it is the shortest games that will be most remembered in the history books.
"This isn't the demise of the long game at all," observed a past champion. "Spectators who have been lucky enough to see these 48 hours have been treated to some genuine drama. A unique show."
Small Victories: Building for the Future
In the preparation to this match, the skipper talked like a man carrying the heavy burden on his shoulders.
The team responded for him, reinstating the joy to his countenance.
Emerging talents performed with vital performances. These are baby steps, certainly not enough to guarantee long-term stability, but something to use as a platform.
In the end, this triumph is added to other memorable performances in meaningless games.
As the crowd left into a beautiful night, the team assembled on the turf to start their own festivities.
Enjoy the drink, men. This victory was hard-fought.
