Displayed inside a showcase on the elevated floor of the MCG is housed a vibrant pink ensemble worn by Robbie Williams. His concert in front of 100,024 fans was seen as a success.
You might not appreciate his music. You might think he is the greatest gift to music known to man. You might take a middle ground, admitting that some tracks are excellent while others are terrible.
The key argument is that entertainment can take many forms. Preferences differ. There is no one way to produce literature or even Test cricket.
The Incomparable Variety of Test Cricket
The five-day game boasts unrivalled depth. One struggles to think of another sport where the playing is so dictated by external factors.
The weather, the session, the cricket ball – the variables are numerous. Most important is the playing surface.
If the format is a form of art, the strip is the blank slate on which the cricketers paint their masterpiece.
A Broken-Down Battle: The Fourth Test
The Boxing Day fixture between the old rivals was Test cricket cubism, the established format broken apart and reconstructed in an unusual manner.
This is not a endorsement of the surface which resulted in a triumph and the another sub-three-day finish of the contest.
Leaving a thick layer on the pitch, resulting in 36 wickets tumbling in less than two days, is not an even battle between offense and defense.
A Varied History: The Core of Test Cricket
But any suggestion this was a inferior show, one that should be qualified as illegitimate, is mistaken.
The format is a varied portfolio, over two thousand matches and still growing. At times, as witnessed recently, the ball behaves unpredictably for the seamers. Other times, it turns square on a dry surface. Sometimes, the pitch is flat as a pancake, other times it spits like a cobra.
The thrillers are particularly captivating owing to the time devoted elsewhere.
Adjustment: The True Test
Specific conditions are accepted more readily than others.
The debate in at the MCG was that the equilibrium was weighted unfairly towards the fielding side. That the best players were prevented from demonstrating their skill.
This level of cricket is about problem solving – reading the situation and responding appropriately. The two highest individual scores were made by world-class batters. One side committed more errors than the other, and thus ended up second best.
Unbridled Joy: The Fan Perspective
Try telling the devotees who have endured a long drought that this lacked spectacle.
In one section of the MCG, thousands made noise and sang their songs, fostering a party atmosphere in a bastion of sport.
There was belief as the fielding side excelled, impetus when the top order scored quickly, and rapturous celebration when the win was confirmed.
Polar Opposites: The Spectrum of Test Matches
The Melbourne has previous experience with pitch problems. In the past, a Test there featured a strip with all the life of a pulled Christmas cracker.
That fixture was a slog, with minimal action and interminable tedium. This recent match and that previous match are extreme ends of the spectrum – both are not the standard, yet significance can be ascribed to them.
Four Tests into the current series, it is the quick finishes that will be most remembered in the memory.
"This isn't the end of Test cricket at all," observed a former player. "Spectators who have been privileged to see these two days have been experienced some genuine drama. A unique show."
Signs of Progress: A Glimmer of Hope
In the preparation to this match, the leader spoke like a man carrying the weight of the world on his back.
The players delivered for him, restoring the joy to his countenance.
Emerging talents stepped up with key contributions. These are incremental gains, certainly not enough to secure long-term futures, but something to build on.
In the end, this Melbourne victory is added to other historic performances in dead rubbers.
As the crowd left into a stunning sunset, the players gathered on the turf to commence their own celebrations.
Savour the moment, men. This victory was hard-fought.
