Within a display cabinet on the elevated floor of the iconic Melbourne stadium rests a electric pink ensemble worn by the pop star. The show in front of a hundred thousand attendees was seen as a success.
Perhaps you don't enjoy Robbie Williams. Perhaps you believe he is the finest offering to music known to man. Alternatively, you may hold a middle ground, conceding that some hits are fantastic while others are awful.
The central idea is that amusement can take many forms. You like what you like. There is no universal formula to craft music or even Test cricket.
The Incomparable Variety of Test Cricket
The traditional format boasts unrivalled depth. It is hard to think of another sport where the playing is so dictated by external factors.
The climate, the hour of play, the cricket ball – the factors are countless. Above all is the pitch.
If the format is an artistic pursuit, the strip is the foundation on which the athletes paint their masterpiece.
A Test of Cubism: The Melbourne Spectacle
The Boxing Day fixture between Australia and England was the game deconstructed, the great game taken to pieces and reassembled in abstract form.
This is not a endorsement of the wicket which resulted in a triumph and the another sub-three-day finish of the Ashes battle.
Leaving excessive grass on the wicket, resulting in numerous dismissals falling in less than two days, is not a balanced duel between offense and defense.
A Diverse Legacy: The Nature of Test Cricket
But any suggestion this was a lesser event, one that should be qualified as inauthentic, is wide of the mark.
The long game is a rich tapestry, a long history and ongoing. On occasion, like in Melbourne, the cricket ball does all sorts for the fast men. Sometimes, it grips and turns on a dry surface. At other venues, the pitch is flat as a pancake, other times it bounces unevenly.
The close matches are even more exciting due to the patience made during quieter periods.
Adaptation: The Core Skill
Certain variables are tolerated more freely than others.
The contention in Melbourne was that the contest was weighted unfairly towards the attack. That the top batters were prevented from demonstrating their skill.
Test cricket is about adapting to challenges – interpreting the situation and responding appropriately. The two highest individual scores were made by acknowledged batters. One line-up was less disciplined than the other, and thus ended up second best.
Pure Elation: The Fan Perspective
Attempt to convince the fans who have suffered a long drought that this was not entertaining.
In one section of the ground, thousands celebrated and created an atmosphere, generating a festive mood in a heartland of Australian cricket.
There was optimism as the attack excelled, advantage when players scored quickly, and pure joy when the result was secured.
Polar Opposites: The Variety of Test Matches
The Melbourne has a history with controversial surfaces. Eight years ago, a Test there featured a pitch with the excitement of a pulled Christmas cracker.
That match was a slog, with limited drama and interminable tedium. This recent match and that slow Test are extreme ends of the range – neither perfect, yet value can be attached to each.
Four Tests into the ongoing battle, it is the two-day matches that will live longest in the history books.
"Far from being the end of the format at all," said a past champion. "Spectators who have been fortunate to see these two days have been given some genuine drama. Different entertainment."
Small Victories: Building for the Future
In the build-up to this match, the leader talked like a man carrying the weight of the world on his back.
The team responded for him, reinstating the joy to his countenance.
Emerging talents performed with key contributions. These are incremental gains, certainly not enough to ensure long-term stability, but a foundation to use as a platform.
At the very least, this Melbourne victory takes its place among other memorable performances in dead rubbers.
As the supporters departed into a stunning sunset, the squad gathered on the turf to start their own celebrations.
Enjoy the drink, boys. It's well deserved.
