In a showcase on the third floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground is housed a neon pink suit donned by Robbie Williams. The show in front of 100,024 attendees was hailed as a triumph.
Perhaps you don't appreciate Robbie Williams. Perhaps you believe he is the finest offering to music in history. Or you could adopt a middle ground, admitting that some tracks are excellent while others are awful.
The central idea is that enjoyment can manifest in countless ways. Preferences differ. There is no one way to produce art or even five-day cricket.
The Incomparable Variety of The Test Format
Test cricket boasts incomparable variety. One struggles to think of another sport where the playing is so dependent on conditions.
The weather, the session, the cricket ball – the factors are countless. Crucially is the wicket.
If the format is an artistic pursuit, the strip is the canvas on which the players paint their masterpiece.
An Abstract Contest: The MCG Match
The recent Melbourne match between Australia and England was the game deconstructed, the great game taken to pieces and reconstructed in an unusual manner.
Let's be clear, this isn't a endorsement of the wicket which yielded a win and the another sub-three-day finish of the Ashes battle.
Allowing a thick layer on the pitch, leading to 36 wickets being taken in less than a brief period, is not a balanced duel between batter and bowler.
A Diverse Legacy: The Core of Test Cricket
But any idea this was a inferior show, one that should be marked with an asterisk as illegitimate, is incorrect.
Test cricket is a diverse canvas, over two thousand matches and counting. Sometimes, like in Melbourne, the ball does all sorts for the seamers. Sometimes, it turns square on a dry surface. At other venues, the pitch is unresponsive, other times it explodes.
The close matches are particularly captivating owing to the patience committed during quieter periods.
Problem Solving: The Core Skill
Certain variables are accepted more freely than others.
The debate in during the match was that the contest was tipped too far towards the fielding side. That the top batters were prevented from playing their natural game.
This level of cricket is about finding solutions – reading the situation and adjusting accordingly. The two highest individual scores were made by world-class players. One team committed more errors than the other, and thus were defeated.
Unbridled Joy: The Fan Perspective
Attempt to convince the fans who have endured 18 winless matches that this was not entertaining.
In a corner of the stadium, thousands made noise and created an atmosphere, producing a party atmosphere in a bastion of sport.
There was optimism as the fielding side surged, momentum when the top order scored quickly, and pure joy when the win was confirmed.
Contrasting Examples: The Variety of Test Matches
The venue has form with controversial surfaces. Eight years ago, a match there featured a pitch with the character of a pulled Christmas cracker.
That fixture was a slog, with minimal action and endless boredom. The two-day game and that previous match are extreme ends of the range – one is not more perfect, yet significance 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 history books.
"This isn't the demise of the long game at all," observed a past champion. "Spectators who have been lucky enough to see these two days have been given some fantastic sport. A unique show."
Small Victories: Building for the Future
In the preparation to this match, the skipper talked like a man carrying the enormous pressure on his mind.
The team responded for him, restoring the positive demeanor to his persona.
New faces performed with key contributions. These are incremental gains, not nearly enough to ensure long-term stability, but a starting point to develop from.
In the end, this MCG win takes its place among other notable performances in similar circumstances.
As the crowd slipped away into a stunning sunset, the team gathered on the field to begin their own celebrations.
Enjoy the drink, lads. It's well deserved.
