Displayed inside a glass case on the upper level of the iconic Melbourne stadium is housed a electric pink ensemble donned by Robbie Williams. The concert in front of 100,024 spectators was considered a major hit.
It's possible you like the performer. Maybe you feel he is the finest offering to music known to man. You might take a reasonable stance, acknowledging that some hits are excellent while others are awful.
The point being is that amusement can take many forms. Preferences differ. There is no universal formula to produce art or even Test cricket.
The Incomparable Variety of The Test Format
The traditional format boasts incomparable variety. It is hard to think of another sport where the contest is so dependent on conditions.
The weather, the session, the red ball – the factors are countless. Above all is the pitch.
If Test cricket is an artistic pursuit, the pitch is the canvas on which the athletes paint their masterpiece.
An Abstract Contest: The Fourth Test
The recent Melbourne match between Australia and England was an abstract version of cricket, the traditional sport dismantled and reassembled in an unusual manner.
Let's be clear, this isn't a endorsement of the pitch which yielded a triumph and the second two-day Test of the Ashes battle.
Allowing a thick layer on the pitch, leading to numerous dismissals tumbling in less than two days, is not a fair contest between bat and ball.
A Diverse Legacy: The Nature of Test Cricket
But any idea this was a lesser event, one that should be marked with an asterisk as not a proper Test, is mistaken.
Test cricket is a varied portfolio, 2,615 parts and ongoing. On occasion, like in Melbourne, the ball behaves unpredictably for the seamers. In contrast, it turns square on a spinning track. At other venues, the pitch is unresponsive, other times it bounces unevenly.
The thrillers are all the more thrilling because of the patience committed in other matches.
Adjustment: The Core Skill
Some factors are tolerated more easily than others.
The argument in during the match was that the balance was weighted unfairly towards the fielding side. That the best players were unable from demonstrating their skill.
Test cricket is about adapting to challenges – interpreting the wicket and adjusting accordingly. The top two individual innings were made by world-class batters. One team was less disciplined than the other, and thus lost.
Pure Elation: The Fan Perspective
Try telling the fans who have suffered years of defeat that this was not entertaining.
Among the crowd of the ground, a sea of people celebrated and chanted, generating a party atmosphere in a stronghold of national pride.
There was hope as the attack dominated, momentum when batters scored quickly, and rapturous celebration when the result was achieved.
Extreme Ends: The Range of Test Matches
The venue has a history with controversial surfaces. In the past, a match there featured a wicket with the character of a a non-event.
That fixture was a slog, with minimal action and slow play. The two-day game and that drawn affair are polar opposites of the range – both are not perfect, yet significance can be attached to them.
Four Tests into the ongoing battle, it is the two-day matches that will be most remembered in the collective consciousness.
"Far from being the death of the format at all," observed a former player. "Spectators who have been lucky enough to see these two days have been treated to some fantastic sport. Different entertainment."
Small Victories: Looking Ahead
In the lead-in to this match, the skipper addressed the media like a man carrying the heavy burden on his back.
The players delivered for him, bringing back the positive demeanor to his persona.
Different players delivered with key contributions. These are incremental gains, certainly not enough to guarantee long-term success, but a foundation to develop from.
At the very least, this triumph is added to other historic performances in similar circumstances.
As the crowd left into a stunning sunset, the squad gathered on the turf to start their own celebrations.
Enjoy the drink, boys. It's well deserved.
