In a showcase on the third floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground is housed a vibrant pink suit performed in by Robbie Williams. His concert in front of a hundred thousand attendees was considered a success.
You might not enjoy his music. Maybe you feel he is the finest offering to music known to man. You might take a balanced view, acknowledging that some hits are excellent while others are awful.
The point being is that enjoyment can take many forms. Preferences differ. There is not a single method to create art or even Test cricket.
The Incomparable Variety of The Long Game
The five-day game boasts peerless complexity. One struggles to think of another sport where the contest is so dictated by conditions.
The weather, the session, the cricket ball – the list is endless. Above all is the pitch.
If the long game is a form of art, the wicket is the canvas on which the players craft their legacy.
An Abstract Contest: The Melbourne Spectacle
The Boxing Day fixture between Australia and England was Test cricket cubism, the traditional sport dismantled and reconstructed in a bizarre shape.
It must be stated this is not a defence of the surface which yielded a win and the another sub-three-day finish of the contest.
Allowing a thick layer on the surface, causing a cascade of wickets falling in less than six sessions, is not a balanced duel between offense and defense.
A Diverse Legacy: The Nature of Test Cricket
But any notion this was a inferior show, one that should be qualified as inauthentic, is wide of the mark.
The format is a rich tapestry, a long history and still growing. At times, as seen at the MCG, the ball moves excessively for the pace bowlers. Other times, it spins sharply on a spinning track. Sometimes, the pitch is dead, other times it explodes.
The exciting finishes are even more exciting because of the investment devoted in other matches.
Adaptation: The Real Challenge
Certain variables are accepted more readily than others.
The debate in Melbourne was that the contest was weighted unfairly towards the bowlers. That the top batters were prevented from playing their natural game.
This level of cricket is about problem solving – interpreting the wicket and adapting appropriately. The best individual innings were made by recognized stars. One side committed more errors than the other, and thus were defeated.
Pure Elation: The Fan Perspective
Attempt to convince the devotees who have experienced 18 winless matches that this was not entertaining.
In one section of the MCG, thousands celebrated and chanted, producing a party atmosphere in a stronghold of national pride.
There was belief as the bowlers dominated, momentum when the top order fought back, and rapturous celebration when the victory was confirmed.
Contrasting Examples: The Spectrum of Test Matches
The Melbourne has form with pitch problems. Previously, a game there featured a wicket with all the life of a a non-event.
That contest was a marathon, with minimal action and interminable tedium. This recent match and that previous match are diametrically opposed points of the spectrum – one is not more ideal, yet significance can be ascribed to each.
Deep into the series into the current series, it is the two-day matches that will remain iconic in the memory.
"It's not the death of Test cricket at all," said a past champion. "The people who have been fortunate to see these short time have been experienced some fantastic sport. A unique show."
Small Victories: A Glimmer of Hope
In the lead-in to this match, the skipper addressed the media like a man carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.
The squad protected him, bringing back the positive demeanor to his countenance.
New faces performed with crucial roles. These are incremental gains, certainly not enough to guarantee long-term stability, but a foundation to use as a platform.
At the very least, this triumph joins other notable performances in dead rubbers.
As the crowd slipped away into a beautiful night, the squad gathered on the turf to begin their own celebrations.
Savour the moment, boys. You've earned this one.
