Within a showcase on the elevated floor of the Melbourne Cricket Ground is housed a electric pink suit worn by the entertainer. His show in front of a hundred thousand attendees was seen as a success.
You might not appreciate Robbie Williams. Perhaps you believe he is the finest offering to music known to man. Or you could adopt a reasonable stance, conceding that some hits are belting while others are awful.
The central idea is that enjoyment can manifest in countless ways. You like what you like. There is not a single method to craft art or even the longest format.
The Incomparable Variety of The Long Game
The five-day game boasts peerless complexity. One struggles to think of another sport where the playing is so dictated by the environment.
The elements, the time of day, the cricket ball – the variables are numerous. Crucially is the pitch.
If the format is art, the pitch is the foundation on which the players craft their legacy.
A Test of Cubism: The MCG Match
The Boxing Day fixture between the two sides was the game deconstructed, the great game taken to pieces and reconstructed in a bizarre shape.
This is not a defence of the wicket which yielded a win and the second two-day Test of the Ashes battle.
Allowing a thick layer on the surface, causing a cascade of wickets being taken in less than six sessions, is not a balanced duel between bat and ball.
A Varied History: The Core of Test Cricket
But any notion this was a diminished spectacle, one that should be marked with an asterisk as illegitimate, is mistaken.
The long game is a varied portfolio, 2,615 parts and still growing. On occasion, as seen at the MCG, the ball does all sorts for the seamers. Other times, it turns square on a spinning track. Sometimes, the pitch is unresponsive, other times it bounces unevenly.
The exciting finishes are particularly captivating due to the patience devoted during quieter periods.
Problem Solving: The Core Skill
Specific conditions are embraced more readily than others.
The argument in Melbourne was that the balance was tipped too far towards the bowlers. That the top batters were hindered from demonstrating their skill.
Test cricket is about problem solving – assessing the situation and responding appropriately. The best individual scores were made by recognized batters. One side was less disciplined than the other, and thus lost.
Sheer Celebration: The Supporters' View
Go and inform the fans who have experienced a long drought that this was not entertaining.
In a corner of the ground, a sea of people celebrated and sang their songs, fostering a party atmosphere in a stronghold of Australian cricket.
There was hope as the attack dominated, impetus when the top order scored quickly, and rapturous celebration when the win was secured.
Polar Opposites: The Variety of Test Matches
The MCG has a history with controversial surfaces. In the past, a Test there featured a strip with the excitement of a a damp squib.
That contest was a grind, with limited drama and endless boredom. The two-day game and that drawn affair are extreme ends of the spectrum – neither the standard, yet historical weight can be attached to them.
Four Tests into the ongoing battle, it is the two-day matches that will live longest in the memory.
"It's not the end of the long game at all," said a former player. "The people who have been fortunate to see these two days have been experienced some genuine drama. A unique show."
Small Victories: A Glimmer of Hope
In the lead-in to this match, the skipper talked like a man carrying the heavy burden on his shoulders.
The team protected him, reinstating the joy to his countenance.
Emerging talents stepped up with key contributions. These are incremental gains, not nearly enough to ensure long-term stability, but something to develop from.
In the end, this triumph takes its place among other historic performances in dead rubbers.
As the crowd slipped away into a stunning sunset, the squad assembled on the turf to start their own enjoyment.
Savour the moment, boys. You've earned this one.
