In a showcase on the third floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground is housed a neon pink outfit performed in by Robbie Williams. The show in front of a hundred thousand attendees was seen as a major hit.
It's possible you like his music. Maybe you feel he is the ultimate present to music the world has ever seen. Or you could adopt a middle ground, acknowledging that some songs are fantastic while others are poor.
The central idea is that entertainment can take many forms. Preferences differ. There is no universal formula to create literature or even Test cricket.
The Peerless Spectrum of The Test Format
The five-day game boasts incomparable variety. It's difficult to think of another sport where the contest is so reliant upon the environment.
The elements, the time of day, the ball – the list is endless. Crucially is the wicket.
If Test cricket is a form of art, the pitch is the foundation on which the players craft their legacy.
A Broken-Down Battle: The Fourth Test
The fourth Ashes Test between the two sides was an abstract version of cricket, the great game taken to pieces and reassembled in abstract form.
It must be stated this is not a defence of the wicket which resulted in a victory and the second two-day Test of the contest.
Allowing 10mm of grass on the wicket, leading to a cascade of wickets falling in less than six sessions, is not a balanced duel between bat and ball.
A Diverse Legacy: The Essence of Test Cricket
But any notion this was a inferior show, one that should be qualified as illegitimate, is wide of the mark.
The long game is a diverse canvas, 2,615 parts and counting. At times, like in Melbourne, the cricket ball does all sorts for the seamers. In contrast, it grips and turns on a dust bowl. At other venues, the pitch is unresponsive, other times it explodes.
The exciting finishes are all the more thrilling because of the time committed elsewhere.
Adaptation: The True Test
Some factors are tolerated more readily than others.
The argument in at the MCG was that the balance was tipped too far towards the attack. That the best players were unable from playing their natural game.
This level of cricket is about finding solutions – interpreting the wicket and adapting accordingly. The two highest individual scores were made by acknowledged players. One side was less disciplined than the other, and thus lost.
Sheer Celebration: For Those Who Waited
Try telling the fans who have experienced 18 winless matches that this lacked spectacle.
Among the crowd of the MCG, thousands celebrated and chanted, generating a carnival vibe in a stronghold of Australian cricket.
There was belief as the fielding side dominated, momentum when players fought back, and unconditional love when the win was secured.
Polar Opposites: The Spectrum of Test Matches
The MCG has a history with difficult wickets. In the past, a game there featured a pitch with the excitement of a a non-event.
That contest was a grind, with minimal action and endless boredom. This recent match and that slow Test are diametrically opposed points of the spectrum – one is not more the standard, yet historical weight can be ascribed to them.
Four Tests into the ongoing battle, it is the shortest games that will be most remembered in the collective consciousness.
"This isn't the end of Test cricket at all," observed a former player. "Spectators who have been lucky enough to see these 48 hours have been treated to some genuine drama. A unique show."
Small Victories: Building for the Future
In the preparation to this match, the skipper talked like a man carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.
The team protected him, reinstating the smile to his persona.
Different players performed with key contributions. These are incremental gains, not nearly enough to guarantee long-term stability, but a foundation to build on.
At the very least, this triumph takes its place among other memorable performances in similar circumstances.
As the crowd left into a glorious Melbourne evening, the team gathered on the field to begin their own celebrations.
Celebrate the win, boys. You've earned this one.
