Displayed inside a showcase on the third floor of the iconic Melbourne stadium is housed a vibrant pink ensemble donned by Robbie Williams. The performance in front of a hundred thousand fans was considered a major hit.
You might not like Robbie Williams. You might think he is the greatest gift to music known to man. You might take a middle ground, acknowledging that some hits are excellent while others are awful.
The central idea is that amusement can take many forms. Tastes vary. There is not a single method to craft music or even Test cricket.
The Incomparable Variety of The Long Game
Test cricket boasts incomparable variety. One struggles to think of another sport where the outcome is so dependent on the environment.
The climate, the session, the cricket ball – the list is endless. Crucially is the pitch.
If the long game is a form of art, the strip is the canvas on which the athletes create their art.
A Test of Cubism: The Melbourne Spectacle
The Boxing Day fixture between the two sides was the game deconstructed, the great game dismantled and stuck back together in abstract form.
Let's be clear, this isn't a defence of the pitch which produced a victory and the another short match of the Ashes battle.
Leaving excessive grass on the pitch, resulting in numerous dismissals being taken in less than six sessions, is not a fair contest between offense and defense.
A Varied History: The Essence of Test Cricket
But any notion this was a lesser event, one that should be footnoted as inauthentic, is mistaken.
The format is a rich tapestry, 2,615 parts and still growing. Sometimes, like in Melbourne, the ball behaves unpredictably for the seamers. Other times, it grips and turns on a dry surface. Sometimes, the pitch is unresponsive, other times it bounces unevenly.
The close matches are particularly captivating due to the investment committed elsewhere.
Adaptation: The Real Challenge
Some factors are accepted more easily than others.
The debate in during the match was that the balance was skewed excessively towards the bowlers. That the best players were unable from playing their natural game.
The format is about finding solutions – assessing the conditions and responding appropriately. The top two individual innings were made by acknowledged players. One side was less disciplined than the other, and thus ended up second best.
Pure Elation: The Fan Perspective
Go and inform the supporters who have experienced 18 winless matches that this lacked spectacle.
In one section of the MCG, thousands made noise and created an atmosphere, producing a carnival vibe in a heartland of Australian cricket.
There was belief as the bowlers dominated, advantage when players responded, and rapturous celebration when the win was secured.
Contrasting Examples: The Range of Test Matches
The venue has form with difficult wickets. Previously, a Test there featured a wicket with the excitement of a a non-event.
That contest was a slog, with limited drama and endless boredom. The two-day game and that drawn affair are diametrically opposed points of the scale – one is not more ideal, yet historical weight can be ascribed to them.
Deep into the series into the current series, it is the quick finishes that will be most remembered in the memory.
"Far from being the demise of the long game at all," observed a former player. "The people who have been lucky enough to see these 48 hours have been experienced some real entertainment. A unique show."
Baby Steps: Building for the Future
In the build-up to this match, the skipper talked like a man carrying the weight of the world on his back.
The team responded for him, reinstating the joy to his countenance.
Different players stepped up with key contributions. These are baby steps, not nearly enough to guarantee long-term stability, but something to use as a platform.
Ultimately, this Melbourne victory joins other notable performances in similar circumstances.
As the fans left into a glorious Melbourne evening, the team assembled on the field to begin their own celebrations.
Celebrate the win, boys. You've earned this one.
