In a showcase on the elevated floor of the iconic Melbourne stadium is housed a electric pink suit worn by Robbie Williams. The show in front of a massive crowd of attendees was considered a success.
You might not enjoy the performer. You might think he is the ultimate present to music in history. Alternatively, you may hold a balanced view, conceding that some hits are fantastic while others are awful.
The central idea is that enjoyment can be delivered diversely. You like what you like. There is not a single method to craft literature or even five-day cricket.
The Incomparable Variety of Test Cricket
Test cricket boasts incomparable variety. It's difficult to think of another sport where the playing is so dependent on conditions.
The climate, the time of day, the red ball – the list is endless. Above all is the pitch.
If the format is a form of art, the strip is the foundation on which the players craft their legacy.
A Broken-Down Battle: The Melbourne Spectacle
The fourth Ashes Test between the two sides was Test cricket cubism, the traditional sport taken to pieces and reassembled in a bizarre shape.
Let's be clear, this isn't a defence of the wicket which resulted in a victory and the another sub-three-day finish of the series.
Allowing 10mm of grass on the pitch, leading to 36 wickets being taken in less than two days, is not a balanced duel between bat and ball.
A Varied History: The Essence of Test Cricket
But any notion this was a diminished spectacle, one that should be qualified as not a proper Test, is incorrect.
Test cricket is a diverse canvas, over two thousand matches and still growing. Sometimes, as witnessed recently, the cricket ball behaves unpredictably for the seamers. Sometimes, it grips and turns on a spinning track. At other venues, the pitch is flat as a pancake, other times it explodes.
The exciting finishes are all the more thrilling because of the investment committed in other matches.
Adaptation: The True Test
Specific conditions are accepted more freely than others.
The debate in at the MCG was that the contest was skewed excessively towards the fielding side. That the top batters were hindered from playing their natural game.
Test cricket is about problem solving – reading the wicket and adapting appropriately. The two highest individual contributions were made by world-class batters. One line-up committed more errors than the other, and thus lost.
Pure Elation: The Supporters' View
Try telling the fans who have endured 18 winless matches that this lacked spectacle.
Among the crowd of the ground, a sea of people made noise and chanted, producing a party atmosphere in a heartland of national pride.
There was hope as the attack dominated, momentum when players scored quickly, and rapturous celebration when the result was confirmed.
Extreme Ends: The Range of Test Matches
The MCG has previous experience with pitch problems. In the past, a game there featured a strip with the character of a a damp squib.
That fixture was a marathon, with few wickets and slow play. This recent match and that drawn affair are extreme ends of the scale – neither the standard, yet historical weight can be ascribed to them.
Four Tests into the ongoing battle, it is the shortest games that will live longest in the memory.
"Far from being the end of the format at all," observed a past champion. "The people who have been lucky enough to see these 48 hours have been treated to some fantastic sport. Different entertainment."
Baby Steps: Looking Ahead
In the build-up to this match, the skipper spoke like a man carrying the weight of the world on his mind.
The players protected him, reinstating the joy to his face.
Different players performed with vital performances. These are small positives, hardly enough to guarantee long-term stability, but a foundation to build on.
At the very least, this triumph joins other historic performances in similar circumstances.
As the crowd left into a beautiful night, the team assembled on the outfield to commence their own celebrations.
Enjoy the drink, men. You've earned this one.
