In a showcase on the upper level of the MCG is housed a electric pink suit donned by Robbie Williams. The concert in front of 100,024 attendees was hailed as a triumph.
You might not like Robbie Williams. Perhaps you believe he is the ultimate present to music known to man. Alternatively, you may hold a balanced view, admitting that some tracks are excellent while others are poor.
The key argument is that entertainment can take many forms. You like what you like. There is no universal formula to produce literature or even the longest format.
The Unrivalled Depth of The Long Game
The five-day game boasts peerless complexity. One struggles to think of another sport where the outcome is so dictated by external factors.
The climate, the time of day, the ball – the factors are countless. Above all is the playing surface.
If Test cricket is art, the strip is the canvas on which the players create their art.
A Test of Cubism: The Melbourne Spectacle
The Boxing Day fixture between Australia and England was an abstract version of cricket, the established format broken apart and stuck back together in abstract form.
Let's be clear, this isn't a justification of the surface which resulted in a victory and the another short match of the series.
Allowing excessive grass on the surface, resulting in a cascade of wickets tumbling in less than six sessions, is not an even battle between bat and ball.
A Varied History: The Essence of Test Cricket
But any idea this was a lesser event, one that should be marked with an asterisk as inauthentic, is mistaken.
The long game is a diverse canvas, over two thousand matches and ongoing. On occasion, as witnessed recently, the cricket ball behaves unpredictably for the pace bowlers. In contrast, it turns square on a dust bowl. At other venues, the pitch is flat as a pancake, other times it bounces unevenly.
The thrillers are all the more thrilling because of the investment devoted in other matches.
Problem Solving: The Core Skill
Specific conditions are embraced more freely than others.
The contention in Melbourne was that the equilibrium was weighted unfairly towards the bowlers. That the best players were hindered from playing their natural game.
This level of cricket is about problem solving – interpreting the situation and adjusting appropriately. The top two individual contributions were made by world-class players. One line-up made more mistakes than the other, and thus were defeated.
Unbridled Joy: The Fan Perspective
Attempt to convince the supporters who have endured 18 winless matches that this wasn't compelling.
In a corner of the ground, thousands celebrated and chanted, generating a party atmosphere in a bastion of national pride.
There was hope as the fielding side excelled, momentum when the top order fought back, and pure joy when the victory was confirmed.
Extreme Ends: The Range of Test Matches
The MCG has previous experience with controversial surfaces. Previously, a match there featured a strip with the character of a pulled Christmas cracker.
That fixture was a slog, with few wickets and slow play. The two-day game and that slow Test are polar opposites of the range – both are not ideal, yet significance can be found in them.
Four Tests into the current series, it is the shortest games that will be most remembered in the collective consciousness.
"This isn't the end of the format at all," commented a former player. "Fans who have been fortunate to see these 48 hours have been experienced some genuine drama. Different entertainment."
Baby Steps: Building for the Future
In the build-up to this Test, the leader spoke like a man carrying the heavy burden on his shoulders.
The squad delivered for him, bringing back the smile to his persona.
Emerging talents performed with key contributions. These are incremental gains, certainly not enough to secure long-term stability, but something to use as a platform.
Ultimately, this MCG win joins other memorable performances in similar circumstances.
As the crowd slipped away into a beautiful night, the team gathered on the field to start their own festivities.
Celebrate the win, lads. It's well deserved.
