Displayed inside a display cabinet on the third floor of the MCG rests a electric pink suit donned by the pop star. His performance in front of a hundred thousand spectators was hailed as a success.
You might not like Robbie Williams. You might think he is the finest offering to music in history. Or you could adopt a reasonable stance, acknowledging that some tracks are fantastic while others are awful.
The central idea is that amusement can manifest in countless ways. Tastes vary. There is no universal formula to create art or even five-day cricket.
The Incomparable Variety of The Test Format
The five-day game boasts unrivalled depth. One struggles to think of another sport where the playing is so dictated by external factors.
The elements, the session, the cricket ball – the variables are numerous. Above all is the pitch.
If the format is art, the strip is the blank slate on which the players craft their legacy.
A Test of Cubism: The Fourth Test
The fourth Ashes Test between the two sides was the game deconstructed, the great game taken to pieces and stuck back together in an unusual manner.
Let's be clear, this isn't a defence of the pitch which resulted in a triumph and the second two-day Test of the series.
Leaving 10mm of grass on the wicket, resulting in numerous dismissals falling in less than a brief period, is not an even battle between bat and ball.
A Diverse Legacy: The Core of Test Cricket
But any suggestion this was a lesser event, one that should be footnoted as illegitimate, is mistaken.
The format is a diverse canvas, over two thousand matches and still growing. On occasion, as seen at the MCG, the ball behaves unpredictably for the pace bowlers. Sometimes, it grips and turns on a dust bowl. At other venues, the pitch is unresponsive, other times it spits like a cobra.
The thrillers are even more exciting owing to the time committed in other matches.
Problem Solving: The Core Skill
Some factors are embraced more easily than others.
The argument in at the MCG was that the equilibrium was weighted unfairly towards the bowlers. That the best players were prevented from demonstrating their skill.
The format is about finding solutions – assessing the wicket and responding effectively. The top two individual contributions were made by recognized batters. One team committed more errors than the other, and thus were defeated.
Sheer Celebration: The Fan Perspective
Attempt to convince the fans who have endured a long drought that this lacked spectacle.
Among the crowd of the stadium, thousands made noise and chanted, fostering a carnival vibe in a stronghold of sport.
There was hope as the attack dominated, impetus when the top order fought back, and unconditional love when the win was achieved.
Extreme Ends: The Range of Test Matches
The Melbourne has previous experience with controversial surfaces. Previously, a Test there featured a strip with the excitement 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 scale – neither perfect, yet value can be found in them.
Deep into the series into the Ashes contest, it is the shortest games that will live longest in the memory.
"This isn't the death of Test cricket at all," said a veteran. "Spectators who have been lucky enough to see these two days have been experienced some fantastic sport. A unique show."
Baby Steps: Looking Ahead
In the build-up to this Test, the captain addressed the media like a man carrying the enormous pressure on his shoulders.
The team delivered for him, restoring the joy to his face.
New faces performed with vital performances. These are baby steps, certainly not enough to guarantee long-term stability, but a foundation to build on.
At the very least, this triumph is added to other historic performances in similar circumstances.
As the crowd departed into a glorious Melbourne evening, the squad assembled on the turf to commence their own festivities.
Enjoy the drink, men. This victory was hard-fought.
