Within a showcase on the third floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground sits a vibrant pink ensemble performed in by the entertainer. The concert in front of 100,024 fans was seen as a major hit.
It's possible you like Robbie Williams. Maybe you feel he is the ultimate present to music in history. You might take a balanced view, acknowledging that some tracks are fantastic while others are awful.
The point being is that entertainment can take many forms. You like what you like. There is no one way to craft literature or even five-day cricket.
The Incomparable Variety of Test Cricket
The traditional format boasts unrivalled depth. One struggles to think of another sport where the contest is so reliant upon the environment.
The elements, the hour of play, the ball – the list is endless. Most important is the wicket.
If the format is a form of art, the wicket is the foundation on which the athletes create their art.
A Broken-Down Battle: The Fourth Test
The recent Melbourne match between Australia and England was an abstract version of cricket, the established format taken to pieces and reconstructed in a bizarre shape.
It must be stated this is not a justification of the surface which resulted in a triumph and the another sub-three-day finish of the contest.
Having 10mm of grass on the pitch, causing 36 wickets tumbling in less than six sessions, is not a balanced duel between bat and ball.
A Diverse Legacy: The Nature of Test Cricket
But any notion this was a diminished spectacle, one that should be footnoted as not a proper Test, is incorrect.
The format is a varied portfolio, over two thousand matches and ongoing. At times, as witnessed recently, the cricket ball moves excessively for the fast men. Sometimes, it grips and turns on a spinning track. At other venues, the pitch is flat as a pancake, other times it bounces unevenly.
The close matches are even more exciting due to the time committed during quieter periods.
Adjustment: The Core Skill
Certain variables are accepted more readily than others.
The argument in Melbourne was that the balance was weighted unfairly towards the bowlers. That the best players were unable from playing their natural game.
This level of cricket is about finding solutions – interpreting the situation and adjusting accordingly. The best individual scores were made by acknowledged batters. One team was less disciplined than the other, and thus were defeated.
Unbridled Joy: The Supporters' View
Try telling the supporters who have suffered 18 winless matches that this wasn't compelling.
In a corner of the ground, countless fans waved their flags and chanted, generating a party atmosphere in a heartland of Australian cricket.
There was optimism as the bowlers excelled, impetus when batters fought back, and rapturous celebration when the victory was confirmed.
Extreme Ends: The Range of Test Matches
The Melbourne has form with difficult wickets. Previously, a match there featured a wicket with all the life of a a non-event.
That fixture was a marathon, with minimal action and interminable tedium. The two-day game and that slow Test are polar opposites of the spectrum – one is not more perfect, yet historical weight can be ascribed to both.
At this stage into the ongoing battle, it is the two-day matches that will remain iconic in the memory.
"It's not the death of the long game at all," observed a former player. "Fans who have been fortunate to see these short time have been given some real entertainment. An unusual spectacle."
Small Victories: Looking Ahead
In the build-up to this match, the skipper addressed the media like a man carrying the weight of the world on his back.
The team responded for him, bringing back the joy to his persona.
New faces stepped up with key contributions. These are small positives, hardly enough to guarantee long-term success, but a foundation to use as a platform.
In the end, this triumph is added to other memorable performances in meaningless games.
As the fans slipped away into a beautiful night, the team congregated on the turf to begin their own festivities.
Enjoy the drink, men. You've earned this one.
