In a display cabinet on the elevated floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground rests a vibrant pink outfit donned by the entertainer. The performance in front of 100,024 spectators was seen as a triumph.
Perhaps you don't like Robbie Williams. Maybe you feel he is the ultimate present to music the world has ever seen. You might take a middle ground, acknowledging that some hits are excellent while others are awful.
The central idea is that amusement can be delivered diversely. You like what you like. There is no one way to produce art or even the longest format.
The Unrivalled Depth of Test Cricket
Test cricket boasts peerless complexity. It's difficult to think of another sport where the playing is so dependent on the environment.
The weather, the time of day, the cricket ball – the factors are countless. Above all is the playing surface.
If Test cricket is a form of art, the wicket is the canvas on which the players create their art.
An Abstract Contest: The Fourth Test
The fourth Ashes Test between the old rivals was Test cricket cubism, the established format dismantled and reconstructed in abstract form.
Let's be clear, this isn't a endorsement of the wicket which produced a triumph and the another short match of the Ashes battle.
Allowing a thick layer on the pitch, resulting in 36 wickets being taken in less than two days, is not a fair contest between bat and ball.
A Diverse Legacy: The Essence of Test Cricket
But any notion this was a lesser event, one that should be qualified as illegitimate, is incorrect.
Test cricket is a varied portfolio, 2,615 parts and counting. On occasion, like in Melbourne, the cricket ball moves excessively for the seamers. Other times, it grips and turns on a spinning track. Sometimes, the pitch is dead, other times it explodes.
The close matches are all the more thrilling owing to the time committed during quieter periods.
Adaptation: The Real Challenge
Certain variables are embraced more easily than others.
The contention in during the match was that the contest was skewed excessively towards the attack. That the top batters were hindered from demonstrating their skill.
Test cricket is about finding solutions – reading the wicket and responding accordingly. The best individual scores were made by acknowledged batters. One line-up made more mistakes than the other, and thus lost.
Unbridled Joy: The Supporters' View
Go and inform the supporters who have suffered a long drought that this wasn't compelling.
In a corner of the stadium, thousands waved their flags and chanted, generating a carnival vibe in a heartland of sport.
There was hope as the attack excelled, impetus when batters fought back, and pure joy when the win was achieved.
Extreme Ends: The Range of Test Matches
The MCG has previous experience with difficult wickets. Previously, a game there featured a strip with all the life of a pulled Christmas cracker.
That fixture was a grind, with few wickets and interminable tedium. The latest encounter and that slow Test are extreme ends of the range – neither the standard, yet significance can be ascribed to both.
Four Tests into the current series, it is the two-day matches that will be most remembered in the collective consciousness.
"It's not the death of the long game at all," observed a former player. "The people who have been lucky enough to see these short time have been treated to some fantastic sport. An unusual spectacle."
Baby Steps: A Glimmer of Hope
In the build-up to this Test, the leader spoke like a man carrying the heavy burden on his shoulders.
The team responded for him, bringing back the joy to his countenance.
New faces delivered with crucial roles. These are baby steps, certainly not enough to ensure long-term success, but something to build on.
At the very least, this MCG win is added to other memorable performances in similar circumstances.
As the crowd slipped away into a stunning sunset, the team congregated on the outfield to begin their own festivities.
Enjoy the drink, men. You've earned this one.
